Roots sells majority stake to Searchlight Capital Partners

Roots Canada Ltd. (Roots) completed the sale of a majority stake in Roots to Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P. (Searchlight), with the co-founders Michael Budman and Don Green retaining a significant equity ownership. This investment will support the brand’s next phase of growth. The terms of the agreement were undisclosed.

The Toronto-Dominion Bank, as Agent and as part of syndicate of financial institutions, provided a term and revolving facility in favour of Roots Corporation, a newly formed subsidiary of Searchlight.

Established in Toronto in 1973, Roots is one of Canada’s leading lifestyle brands with 245 retail locations in Canada, the United States and Asia, along with a robust e-commerce business.

In addition, Roots has a state-of-the-art leather goods factory and design centre, which is located in Toronto.

Searchlight is a global private investment firm with offices in Toronto, New York as well as London.

Torys LLP represented Searchlight Capital Partners with a team that included Michael Akkawi, Jacob Weinstock, Allison Hennick and Crystal Chung (corporate/M&A), Amanda Balasubramanian and Simon Williams (lending), Andrew Wong and Charlotte Cameron (tax), Ed Fan and Steve Hundal (IP), Ebad Rahman and Sharon Au (contracting), Mitch Frazer and Brad Tartick (employment), Andy Gibbons (real estate) and Omar Wakil (regulatory).

Goodmans LLP represented Roots with a team led by Dale Lastman and Celia Rhea, including Ryan Szainwald, Lyndsay Hatlelid (corporate), Alan Bowman and Jarrett Freeman (tax), Ken Herlin, Nick Staubitz and Tyler D’Angelo (real estate), Joe Conforti (employment) and Catherine Lyons (environmental).

Norton Rose Fulbright represented The Toronto-Dominion Bank with a team that included David Amato, Serge Levy, Amanda Fortuna, Barry Segal, Jeff Spiegel, Carole Gilbert and Will Walker (US).

Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP represented Roots on intellectual property matters with a team including Shane Hardy and Stephen Henderson.