Esprit: Brand name taken over in Europe by the Alteri fund

It was a turbulent summer for Esprit in Europe. The fashion brand saw its European activities, based in Germany, file for bankruptcy last May in the face of serious financial difficulties. At the same time, the brand’s French subsidiary was placed in receivership in July. While its future in France is still unknown, the company announced in early August that its brand rights in Europe had been acquired by the British investment group Alteri for an undisclosed sum. This does not affect the ailing operational business.

Alteri specialises in European retail: it holds a stake in CBR Group, which runs the German fashion brands Cecil and Street One. This fund, launched in 2014, is managed by the American asset management company Apollo Global Management. The investor’s aim is to relaunch the brand “in the near future”.

However, this announcement of the sale of brand rights in Europe was accompanied by bad news in Germany. The last 56 Esprit shops in the country will close by the end of the year. The head office will also be closed. 1,300 people will lose their jobs, according to the German press agency DPA.

In France, the brand is on hold. Esprit de Corp France was placed in receivership by the Nanterre Commercial Court on 18 July, and its future is very unclear. Its articles of association list 75 French branches. The brand is also run in France by franchisees, whose future is also uncertain. In Belgium and Switzerland, Esprit filed for bankruptcy last March and April, and closed its own networks in these two countries.

In a financial communication dated August 23, the company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange indicated that the preliminary review of its first half-year to 30 June 2024 showed a “significant” reduction in its losses to 95 million Hong Kong dollars (11 million euros), compared with losses of 714 million a year ago. It attributes this improvement in particular to “the restructuring and deconsolidation of the group’s European subsidiaries.”