French private equity firm 21 Centrale Partners has taken a majority stake in jewellery retailer Cleor, the owner of 77 shopping centre boutiques around France generating an annual turnover of €50m.     

Cleor was founded in 1997 by Giles Bennejean with the original concept of turning jewellery into an essential fashion accessory and to make it accessible to all. 

Bennejean, who will maintain a partnership with 21 Centrale, expressed Cleor's intentions to continue its growth with a new development phase that will see it broaden its geographical reach to 100 stores, as well as international expansion aided by 21 Centrale's experience in distribution networks.

The deal comes less than a month after 21 Centrale's Italian branch's investment in Assicom, Italy's number one B2B credit collection services.

Furthermore, last year saw 21 Centrale's €150m exit from florist Interflora as well as an exit from heating manufacturer Vulcanic Group.

In addition, the company reached a final close of €380m in 2011 after two years raising.