Fokke de Jong, the founder and chief executive of Suitsupply, has bought out the investment firm NPM Capital, RetailDetail reported on 31 October 2024, citing the Dutch financial newspaper FD. The deal was funded through a refinancing: the previous month, Suitsupply borrowed $281 million from a group of banks. Part of the loan replaces older bank debt and the rest pays for NPM's exit.
NPM Capital joined Suitsupply in 2017 and invested almost $112 million. The price of the buyout and the size of NPM's stake were not disclosed. People familiar with the matter told FD that de Jong moved to stop NPM from converting its holding into voting shares. De Jong said the company had simply taken the opportunity to refinance while conditions were favorable.
“We want to use the refinancing to open new shops and expand existing ones.”
Fokke de Jong, founder and chief executive, Suitsupply, to FD
De Jong added that Suitsupply would not enter new countries, because there was still room to grow in the markets where it already trades. The company has 108 shops in 22 countries.
A profitable year behind the deal
Banks were willing to lend because the business is profitable. Revenue rose 11% to $621 million in 2023, and net profit increased to $33.7 million, according to figures RetailDetail reported in June 2024 from the Dutch magazine Quote. In 2022 net profit had been $9.1 million, and de Jong had put $39.3 million of his own money into the company that year.
| Measure | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Not reported | $621 million (up 11%) |
| Net profit | $9.1 million | $33.7 million |
| Stores at year end | 117 | 108 |
Source: RetailDetail, June 2024, citing Quote.
The store count fell in 2023 because Suitsupply left Russia and closed its shop-in-shops in American department stores. The company paid no dividend so that it could keep investing, and said growth in 2024 and 2025 would partly come from enlarging existing stores, including those in London. De Jong said in June that the in-store tailoring service was growing and that the company had proved suits were not dead after the pandemic.
From student room to 22 countries
Suitsupply started in 2000 as an online business run from a student room and opened its first store outside the Netherlands, in Antwerp, in 2007. Its fastest expansion came in 2017, when it opened 27 stores and slipped to a net loss; by 2018 it had 33 stores in the United States, which accounted for 41% of revenue, RetailDetail reported at the time.
What it means for suit buyers
With NPM's exit, de Jong has removed the outside investor that joined in 2017, and his stated plan is to enlarge and add shops in countries where Suitsupply already trades rather than enter new markets. He has also said the in-store tailoring service is growing. Buyers deciding between ready-to-wear with alterations and a fully custom suit can compare the routes in our guide to bespoke versus made-to-measure and see what adjustments are realistic in what a tailor can and can't alter.
