Lacoste Swiss Parent Company Maus Buys French Luxury Brand The Kooples

The French luxury luxury brand The Kooples plans to sell to Maus Fr Fr res Holding AG, owner of Manor AG, the largest chain store group in Switzerland. The two sides jointly announced that they have entered the exclusive negotiation stage.

The Kooples was co founded by Alexandre Elicha, Laurent Elicha and Rapha L Elicha three brothers in 2008. They are the sons of the French women's wear brand Comptoir DES, founder and wife of Mr.

The French private Holdings Company LBO France bought the The Kooples20% stake from the three brothers in 2011 with a valuation of 250 million euros, when the brand's annual income was about 100 million euros.

In 2018, the brand realized revenue of 227 million euros, up 4.5% from 2017, and EBITDA increased 13% to 18 million 400 thousand euros compared with the same period last year.

Now, 127 independent stores and 203 department stores in The Kooples are located in 32 countries and regions, but they are mainly concentrated in Europe and the United States, and export sales account for 40% of brand revenue.

The French light luxury brand, which just fills the gap between fast fashion daily clothes and the display of the identity brand handbag accessories, is very popular in the capital market in recent years.

The most notable paction is undoubtedly the acquisition of Shandong Ruyi group (002193) to SMCP SAS (SMCP.PA), the parent company of Sandro and Maje.

Ruyi group held a valuation of SMCPSAS in 2016, which was said to be 1 billion 300 million euros worth of debt. The latter was listed in October 2017. At present, Ruyi group and joint investors still hold 53.7% of the shares.

Last month, the king of agriculture (601566) has just invested 76 million 500 thousand yuan to set up a joint venture with China, Maison Kitsun & E, small fox (China) Limited. The two sides plan to set up 50 sales outlets in the next 5 years.

Maus Fr res Holding AG has bought the sports leisure brand Lacoste in 2012, and also has the outdoor leisure brand Aigle and the Swedish men's wear brand GANT.

The Group intends to complete the acquisition of The Kooples before the end of the first half of 2019 and help the brand continue to expand its international expansion.

Thierry Guibert, chief executive officer of Maus Fr res International, revealed that their goal is to establish a global retail giant with annual sales of over 4 billion euros, covering clothing, accessories and even home.

Last year, only Lacoste recorded a sales of 3 billion 100 million euros, an increase of 26% over the same period last year.

Thierry Guibert believes that The Kooples, which accounts for 60% of women's customers, will complement each other with 70% customers' male Lacoste.