Le Collectionist, the European leader in luxury property rentals with exclusive services, raises $10M in a round led by Red River West (Groupe Artémis) and acquires Bonder & Co in Spain

Clipperton acted as Sole Manager for Le Collectionist in the fundraising transaction and as buy-side advisor on the acquisition of Bonder & Co

  • The raised funds will be used mainly for the international expansion of the company. Le Collectionist plans to invest in the opening of a hundred local offices around the world
  • As part of its global expansion and with the support of Red River West, Le Collectionist will accelerate its establishment in the United States
  • Le Collectionist also announces the acquisition of Bonder & Co, the leading provider of online rental services in Ibiza for the last 11 years

Paris, September 2017 – Leading European corporate finance firm Clipperton is proud to announce it acted as sole financial advisor to luxury rentals startup Le Collectionist in structuring a $10 million round led by Red River West (Groupe Artémis) with a participation by Patrick Sayer (Chairman of the Management Board of Eurazeo) and Nathalie Le Roy (Investor and Administrator of Compte-Nickel) and follow-on funding from existing investors Partech Ventures and XAnge. The funds will be used to open local offices around the world, continue the development and improvement of their personalized recommendation technology, while further establishing the Le Collectionist brand in the world.

In only 4 years, Le Collectionist has become the #1 choice for clients looking for a unique holiday experience in luxury private properties. Le Collectionist has developed a unique and highly effective model in the luxury rental industry that combines central conciergerie services with local offices. The local affiliates are in charge of sourcing properties, welcoming customers and ensuring the quality of the experience during the stay. Today, 15 destinations with a local office, such as Saint Tropez, Ibiza and Paros, constitute a significant part of Le Collectionist’s business volume. To meet the increasing demand, Le Collectionist will continue the development and improvement of its personalized recommendation technology based on a very detailed knowledge of the customers (their tastes, passions, needs …) and the properties offered (each property has over 500 “tags”).

“Bringing Red River West into our capital was a logical move for us. Receiving their trust – and therefore that of the Artémis Group and the Pinault family – is an important confirmation of our vision: to create the #1 brand of seasonal luxury property rentals with services all over the world,” says Olivier Cahané, Le Collectionist’s CEO.

“We are very proud to support Le Collectionist in its ambition to become a global leader, especially with its upcoming establishment in the United States. Luxury tourism is a fast-growing market that is experiencing major structural changes with the emergence of new purchasing habits. The inadequacy of the existing digital and offline platforms offering direct rentals to the luxury segment, where a demanding customers are in search of unique and personalized experiences, creates a unique opportunity for Le Collectionist, who has already proved its ability to think big, with 75% of its clientele coming from outside of France,” said Alban Gréget, Investment Director at Artémis and Red River West.

In addition to its organic growth strategy, Le Collectionist also intends to accelerate with a build-up strategy to strengthen its local presence in major destinations as illustrated by the acquisition of Bonder & Co, the leader in seasonal rental services in Ibiza for the last 11 years. Le Collectionist intends to further pursue such tactical acquisitions.

“The acquisition of Bonder & Co allows us to significantly strengthen our local presence in Ibiza, Formentera and Barcelona. In addition, Paloma Bonder, Bonder & Co’s founder, will become the General Manager of Le Collectionist in Spain, with the mission of developing new destinations in Spain”, explains Olivier Cahané, CEO and co-founder of Le Collectionist.

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About Clipperton

Clipperton is a European independent corporate finance advisory firm exclusively dedicated to the Technology and Healthcare industries, advising innovative companies on M&A transactions, debt financings and equity offerings. With offices in London, Berlin, and Paris and an international reach, Clipperton is a European leader in Technology financial advisory. Over the past 15 years, the team has successfully completed more than 200 high profile transactions globally.

About Le Collectionist

Founded in 2013 by three entrepreneurs, Olivier Cahané, Max Aniort and Eliott Cohen-Skalli, Le Collectionist is the 1st independent brand in the rental of luxury seasonal properties in Europe.
Le Collectionist offers short-term rental of more than 2,300 exceptional houses, often completely new, and creates remarkable travel experiences in the approximately 100 destinations it offers to its customers. In order to be even closer to them, it grows its local roots by opening offices in its main destinations.
It this way it creates a new way of traveling, a fully tailored trip that is far from stagnant trips filled with standardized places and played out experiences. For more information visit: www.lecollectionist.com

About Red River West

Founded in 2017 by Artémis (investment company of the Pinault family), Red River West is a Franco-American venture capital platform dedicated to French Tech, bringing together families and entrepreneurs from both sides of the Atlantic. Its objective is to promote a dozen start-ups to stimulate their commercial growth in the United States and help them to develop from a local leader position to that of world leader. Red River West relies on two pillars: Artemis, with 25 years of experience in private equity, and a team of three entrepreneur-investors based in the United States, led by Alfred Véricel, co-founder of Purch, the world leader in digital publishing on technology. For more information visit: www.redriverwest.com