Amid rumours and a report which appeared in the Mail on Sunday on 15 July stating that Musto, the outdoor clothing company, had been sold for £40 million to Inflexion Private Equity, Nigel Musto confirms that the company remains firmly in the hands of the Musto family.

Speaking to Yachting World today however, Nigel Musto – Managing Director – confirmed that although the company is not selling up, there are changes afoot for expansion, commenting: “It will definitely not be a wholesale Musto sell-out but we are trying to find a partner who can help bring in the skills that we need to go forward to the next stage of development.”

According to Musto, the Laindon-based outdoor clothing company have made a decision to expand into the casual market but have recognised that in order to achieve this they need expert advice in that field. “We’ve got brands in very good positions in the core market in both the country yachting markets and we’re standing on the edge of being able to do something significant outside those core markets in the more casual type areas.”

To achieve this Musto approached Rothschilds in March this year to help them find a partner who had expertise in that area. Musto continued: “We’ve been interviewing various partners over the last couple of months and I think we’re getting reasonably close to finding someone to work with. Inflexion, the company mentioned in The Mail on Sunday, are a private equity company and one of the parties we’ve been talking to but it’s definitely not a sell-out? Something might happen over the next couple of weeks but exactly what it is. We might even get in a position we don’t do anything at all. We might get to a position where we’ve spoken to a lot of very intelligent people and taken in an awful lot of advice as to what they think we should be doing and decide that we can do it ourselves.”

A brief resume of the company
1936 – Keith Musto born
1964 – Keith Musto wins Flying Dutchman nationals and Europeans and a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics
1965 – Musto & Hyde Sails founded in partnership with Edward Hyde
1971 – Musto & Hyde Accessories formed into Private Limited Company
1979 – Musto & Hyde initiate and develop the first three-layer clothing system for active sailors
1980 – Keith Musto resigns from Musto & Hyde Sails to concentrate on clothing systems for active sailors
1983 – Keith Musto designs the first viable two-piece drysuit
1987 – Musto launches Country Range for equestrian and shooting enthusiasts
1989 onwards – Nigel Musto appointed Sales Director and in 2004 became managing director. At the forefront of technology the company has continued to grow and develop into one of the world’s leading outdoor clothing companies.