Total Capital Partners Creates New Buy And Build Platform Auralis, With Weird Fish Its First Acquisition

Launch marks Total Capital’s continued commitment to supporting ambitious management teams and investing in growth-focused businesses  

Total Capital Partners (“Total Capital”) today announces the launch of Auralis, a new buy-and-build holding company established to create a leading active and lifestyle retail group. As part of this initiative, Auralis has completed its first platform acquisition with the purchase of Weird Fish, the British lifestyle clothing and accessories brand. 

Weird Fish was originally backed by Total Capital in April 2017 and its acquisition by Auralis delivers an unleveraged 4.0x return to investors.  During Total Capital’s ownership period, the Company has transformed from a niche wholesale business into a mainstream lifestyle clothing brand. It posted strong results in its latest financial year, has had a record first half and is on track to deliver another substantial uplift in EBITDA this year.

The formation of Auralis underlines Total Capital’s continued commitment to supporting ambitious management teams and investing in growth-focused businesses. Backed by a substantial acquisition facility provided by Shawbrook Bank, Auralis will enable Weird Fish’s leadership team to pursue strategic acquisitions of complementary retail brands. Weird Fish is the first step of an active acquisition strategy that aims to accelerate expansion, drive operational improvements and deliver meaningful synergies across a portfolio of retail businesses, building on Weird Fish’s record financial performance and experienced management team. 

Commenting on the announcement, Natalie Eastham, Managing Partner at Total Capital, said: “It’s been eight years since we invested in Weird Fish and during that time the Company has successfully grown from a primarily wholesale business posting modest earnings and revenue growth to one which is recording record results and expanding its omnichannel presence.  When the opportunity came to take the business to its next stage of growth, we wanted to be part of that journey. With the creation of Auralis, we are backing an experienced management team to replicate their success at Weird Fish and create a much larger and more diversified business.  Weird Fish is just the first of many acquisitions for Auralis and we are excited about the growth opportunities that lie ahead.”

Commenting on the announcement, new Auralis Group CEO and Weird Fish CEO, David Butler, said: “In light of current market dynamics in the retail sector, many UK businesses have been limited in their abilities to invest in their own businesses while shareholders have struggled to find a home for their brands and businesses. We believe that by combining select businesses looking to be part of a growth and value creation platform, we will be able to generate greater value through integrated operations than they could achieve independently.”

He added: “Weird Fish is now well positioned to continue to improve profitability, and this additional money will enable us to accelerate our growth plans.  As a strong standalone business, we will be able to apply our proven strategy of selectively targeting loved brands that are undervalued and underinvested, and which, despite having a strong product-market, suffer from operational inefficiencies or limited scale.”

Total Capital recently announced the expansion of its leadership team, with three senior hires that include new Partner Simon Rowan.  Earlier this month, it also announced the successful exit of Outco (July 2025), which tripled in size, completed five strategic acquisitions and diversified significantly during Total Capital’s ownership. 

Total Capital Partners is an independent private equity firm with a unique single source funding approach to supporting businesses in the UK.  Unlike traditional private equity funds, it typically provides both the debt and equity for each investment.  This provides SMEs with the right capital structure to facilitate growth and delivers investors a superior risk-adjusted return that relies on operational improvements rather than financial engineering.  

Advisers to the transaction:

Rinesh Dookhee and Ruairi O’Dochartaigh, Alvarez & Marsal – Corporate Finance

Martin Gray and Lisa Handley, KR8 – Debt advisory

John Hamer and Phillip Scott, Walker Morris – buyside Legal

Elizabeth Delaney, TLT – sell-side Legal

Liz Barton, Doyle Clayton – Management advisory

Daniel Bond and James Whittaker – Hazelwoods – Financial due diligence

Nick Millward and Jennifer Wall, BDO – Tax advisory