Ads
Translated by
Nicola Mira
Published
May 16, 2023
Reading time
2 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Scotch & Soda’s French subsidiary bought by Belgian group Alain Broekaert

Translated by
Nicola Mira
Published
May 16, 2023

Scotch & Soda, a fashion brand for men, women and children founded in 1985 in the Netherlands, where it has filed for bankruptcy, was bought by US group Bluestar Alliance in March 2023. The brand's business in France, which until now had been managed directly, has now been sold to Belgian group Alain Broekaert, which had been in charge of the Scotch & Soda distribution in Belgium and Luxembourg (where it used to operate 25 stores) until the brand changed ownership.
 

The Scotch & Soda store inside the Cap 3000 shopping mall in Nice, France - Scotch & Soda


The Alain Broekaert Group (GAB) was founded in 1986, and distributes labels such as Pepe Jeans, Love Stories and Karl Lagerfeld. It operates about 40 monobrand stores, employing 300 people and serving 500 wholesalers in the Benelux area. GAB has now bought Scotch & Soda SAS, the brand’s French subsidiary, and will continue to run a network of 26 Scotch & Soda stores in France (including three outlet stores), plus 69 shop-in-shops and 10 retail corners.

Scotch & Soda, an urban brand with a penchant for colourful patterns, first entered France in 2009, and currently employs 123 people there. Following the sale, the value of which has not been disclosed, all the jobs have been preserved. “Given that the acquisition consists only of a change in ownership, there will be no change of employer for the staff, thus ensuring that their working conditions and social benefits will remain unaffected,” said Scotch & Soda in a press release.

The brand’s stores in Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Germany are instead overseen by the new company recently created by Bluestar Alliance, S&S Europe B.V.
 
Scotch & Soda was forced to file for bankruptcy in the Netherlands in March, citing cash flow problems that arose during the pandemic. The company, which had been owned by Sun Capital since 2011, nevertheless generated a revenue of €342.5 million in fiscal 2021-22 (ended on May 30), compared to the €277.9 million generated in 2020-21, a 23% increase.

Copyright © 2024 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.