U.S. Apparel Leader Revolution Dancewear Acquires U.K.-Based Dance Direct

NILES, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Revolution Dancewear, the leading designer and marketer of dancewear and footwear that sells direct to dance studios in the United States and Canada, today announced that it has acquired Melsham, UK-based Dance Direct, the largest online retailer of dance apparel in the United Kingdom and Europe.

“In acquiring Dance Direct, we’ve found an opportunity to accelerate our growth and create market breadth with a company that operates under the same philosophy that we do.”

The acquisition brings together two leading companies with equal passion for serving dance communities with high-quality products, providing superior customer service and evolving the dance apparel business with innovations in materials, packaging and accessories. With no overlap in customers or countries served, the deal is highly synergistic in creating cross-selling opportunities and developing new market opportunities.

Since its founding 17 years ago, Revolution Dancewear has transformed the dance apparel business with its business model in selling direct to dance studios and dance schools. With its direct-to-studio approach, Revolution Dancewear empowers studio owners to create customer affinity and healthier bottom lines. Through this unique distribution model, Revolution has developed a loyal customer base of dance instructors who serve as a catalyst for the company’s impressive sales growth. Revolution Dancewear sales have increased 275 percent since 2007 while the overall market has grown at just 2 percent per year.

“At Revolution Dancewear, we pride ourselves on our innovative approach and creating an extraordinary apparel experience that reflects our customers’ passion for dance,” said Robb Lippitt, CEO of Revolution Dancewear. “In acquiring Dance Direct, we’ve found an opportunity to accelerate our growth and create market breadth with a company that operates under the same philosophy that we do.”

Dance Direct was founded in 1999 by two ex-professional ballet dancers with a common belief that quality dancewear should be more widely available and affordable so struggling dancers can focus more on their training and spend less on dancewear. Dance Direct today provides a wide array of well-known brands and products to hundreds of thousands of customers in the UK, France and Germany.

Upon merging operations, Revolution Dancewear will stay true to its model in the U.S. and Canada with distribution of its specialty dancewear exclusively to dance studio owners. The company sees an immediate opportunity to extend its dance recital costumes into the European market in selling both direct to consumers and to dance schools. With this acquisition, Revolution Dancewear will be unmatched in the industry offering European consumers and business customers a one-stop-online-shop for all their dancewear, footwear and costume needs.

Revolution Dancewear is backed by Pittsburgh, Penn.-based Incline Equity Partners. In November, 2011, the private equity firm announced the recapitalization of Revolution Dancewear, which resulted in a payment of a dividend to all shareholders of the company. The recapitalization came just 16 months after the firm’s original investment in the company in July 2010.

Terms and conditions of Revolution Dancewear’s acquisition of Dance Direct are not being disclosed.

About Revolution Dancewear

Revolution Dancewear is the only designer and marketer of beautifully-crafted and affordable dancewear, including bodywear, footwear and recital costumes, that sells exclusively to dance studios and dance schools across the U.S. and Canada. Established in 1996, Revolution Dancewear is a leader driven by innovation and industry firsts. The Niles, Ill. company introduced customer-centric service, same-day shipping and higher standards for costume packaging as it is committed to making the process of buying and selling easy for its dance studio partners. Through its Dance Direct brand in the UK, France and Germany, Revolution Dancewear offers European dancers and dance school owners an array of top brands and products from ballet clothing to urban dancewear. For more information, visit www.revolutiondance.com.