Private equity firm Change Capital Partners has acquired German womenswear retailer Hallhuber in a €29m (£25m) deal.

The acquisition is the first in almost three years for the private equity firm, which is run by former Marks & Spencer chief executive Roger Holmes and former M&S chairman Luc Vandevelde.

Change Capital bought the retail chain from Italian firm Stefanel.

Hallhuber operates 89 stores across Germany and a handful in Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Hallhuber saw a 13% increase in sales in the first half of 2009.

Change Capital told the Financial Times that it aims to repeat the successful formula that it used to turn around the fortunes of Jil Sander, which it acquired from Prada in 2006 and sold to Onward of Japan two years later at a three-fold profit.

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