The £200m Dragons’ Den reject
Yes, that’s the hair-raising worth of the detangling brush inventor who was told to get knotted (and who will now be five times richer than judge who said: ‘I’m out’)
THEY built their reputations and fortunes by combing through investment proposals to spot moneyspinning opportunities.
But the Dragons’ Den moguls will be shocked to discover that a former hairdresser who invented a detangling brush is set to sell his business for £200 million – after they told him to get knotted when he first pitched the idea to them.
Entrepreneur Shaun Pulfrey braved the notoriously high-pressure environment of the Den in a bid to raise £80,000 in exchange for a 15 per cent share in his young company, called Tangle Teezer.
The then Dragons – Deborah Meaden, Theo Paphitis, Peter Jones, Duncan Bannatyne and James Caan – listened patiently to his pitch on the BBC2 show.
But when it came to putting their hands in their very deep pockets, they responded unanimously: ‘I’m out!’
Mr Jones went so far as to tell Mr Pulfrey his brush scheme was ‘hair-brained’; Mr Caan called it ‘a waste of time’; and Ms Meaden dismissed his product saying it was like a ‘horse brush’.
Ironically, if the £200million deal goes through as expected it will make Mr Pulfrey five times richer than Ms Meaden, who has an estimated wealth of £40million.
It will also make Tangle Teezer one of the most ‘successful failures’ in the hit programme’s history.
Mr Pulfrey had been nagged by a friend into entering Dragons’ Den
‘Deborah said it was like a horse brush’
in 2007. Despite facing five fearsome Dragons he felt confident because he believed that he had a decent idea.
Importantly, he also had a serious business plan having raised £98,000 from his savings from working as a hair salon colourist and by remortgaging his London flat.
He stressed it was not just about the financial investment, it was also the prospect of the extensive fringe benefits of getting a high-profile Dragon on board.
But in the event his bid for backing from the Dragons proved to be unsuccessful.
He recalled: ‘Deborah Meaden gave me a really hard time saying it was like a horse brush, but before I could argue with her the next comments were coming from another direction.
‘I wasn’t disappointed about not getting the money because I can get that from a bank.
‘But I wanted a Dragon to take it to the consumer global market and I didn’t feel they heard me out.’
Mr Pulfrey left the Den emptyhanded, but that did not stop him pursuing his dream.
In the nine years since his rejection, he has built a business which exports 13 brushes a minute to 60 countries around the world and has been endorsed by a host of celebrities, including X Factor judge Nicole Scherzinger.
It was reported earlier this year that the business was set to sell for £100million, but because Brexit has brought down the value of the pound and so boosted overseas sales, investors could now be prepared to pay twice that.
And as Mr Pulfrey is the sole shareholder in the British firm he will be the one enjoying the profit.
Several British private equity firms, including Exponent, Inflexion and Bridgepoint, have been
participating in the sale process but it is unclear who is still in the running to buy Tangle Teezer.
Investment bankers from American firm Baird have been appointed to find a buyer.
City sources have told The Mail on Sunday that the company has received takeover offers of up to £200million.
The Tangle Teezer auction process is now understood to be entering the final stages and a deal could be announced shortly.
A spokesman for Tangle Teezer said: ‘I cannot comment on anything.’