Manzanita Capital
3 brands · founded 2001 · United KingdomManzanita Capital is a London-based private investment firm founded in 2001 by William S. Fisher, who serves as its chief executive [2]. The company operates as the single family office of the Fisher family, the founders of the American retailer Gap Inc., and describes its approach as long-term ownership of premium and luxury niche beauty and fragrance brands.
Business press and Wikipedia commonly characterise Manzanita as a private equity firm, though its structure is that of a family office deploying patient capital rather than a fund with fixed exit timelines [2]. Its portfolio has centred on high-end fragrance, skincare and beauty retail, making it a recurring name in the ownership of European and American niche houses.
History & milestones
William S. Fisher founded Manzanita Capital in 2001 and built its holdings around branded luxury companies in Europe, consumer goods and retail [2]. The firm made its most consequential beauty move in 2005, when it acquired the French fragrance and candle house Diptyque, a brand it continues to own [3]. Over the following two decades Manzanita assembled and reshaped a portfolio of fragrance and beauty names, buying and later divesting several as they matured.
Portfolio & brands
Manzanita Capital's current beauty holdings include Diptyque, the French perfumer and candle maker; Malin+Goetz, a New York-based apothecary skincare and fragrance brand; Susanne Kaufmann, an Austrian natural skincare house; and D.S. & Durga, a Brooklyn niche fragrance brand. Premium Beauty News has described the group as "no stranger to the high-end fragrance and cosmetics business," citing a portfolio built around such labels [4].
Acquisitions & strategy
Manzanita's strategy has combined long holding periods for anchor brands with periodic sales of others. Diptyque, acquired in 2005, remains the group's longest-held beauty asset [3]. In 2022 Manzanita sold the fragrance brand Byredo to the Spanish group Puig [1]. It expanded again in 2024, taking a majority stake in the Brooklyn-based niche fragrance brand D.S. & Durga [4]. In 2025 the group sold the British beauty retailer Space NK to the American chain Ulta Beauty, exiting one of its best-known retail holdings [5].
Ownership
Manzanita Capital is privately held as the family office of the Fisher family and is not publicly listed [2]. William S. Fisher founded the firm and leads it as chief executive.
Sources
T1 primary · T2 secondary · T3 note- [1]T1manzanitacapital.commanzanitacapital.com (company)
- [2]T3en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._FisherWikipedia
- [3]T3en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DiptyqueWikipedia
- [4]T3premiumbeautynews.com/en/diptyque-and-space-nk-owner,23302premiumbeautynews.com
- [5]T3businesswire.com/news/home/20250710480938/en/Ulta-Beauty-Announces-Acquisition-of-Leading-British-Beauty-Retailer-Space-NK-from-Manzanita-Capitalbusinesswire.com