Transaction Description

Eastern Mountain Sports, Inc., a leading retailer of apparel and gear for the outdoor enthusiast, announced the sale to Versa Capital Management, LLC.

About Eastern Mountain Sports

Eastern Mountain Sports, or EMS, is a leading retailer of apparel and gear for the outdoor enthusiast. The company began in 1967 when two Massachusetts rock climbers opened a store in Wellesley, Mass.  Today, with 69 stores in the Northeast U.S., EMS provides an exceptional customer experience through best-in-class customer service, highly focused merchandising and unique, EMS-branded apparel and gear.

About Versa Capital Management, LLC

Philadelphia-based Versa is a private equity investment firm with $1.2 billion of assets under management focused on control investments in special situations involving middle market companies where value and performance growth can be achieved through enhanced operational and financial management.  Versa’s portfolio includes Bob’s Stores, a northeastern apparel retailer that was recognized as Connecticut’s Retailer of the Year, Avenue Stores, a chain of trend-right, multi-channel stores offering affordable fashion for real size women, and Black Angus Steakhouses, a chain of family-oriented steak restaurants in the western states.

Role of Duff & Phelps

Duff & Phelps was engaged by Eastern Mountain Sports to serve as its exclusive financial advisor in connection with the sale of the company. Duff & Phelps performed extensive pre-marketing diligence to understand the business and develop an appropriate positioning strategy, utilized its retail industry expertise and knowledge of the buyer universe to assemble a highly relevant list of potential strategic and financial buyers, and worked closely with Eastern Mountain Sports’ management to develop and execute a marketing process that could maximize the value of the business.