Retail: Investors want to take over Charles Vögele
The Italian fashion group OVS and two other investors want to take over the fashion retailer Charles Vögele, which has been in crisis for years. If the takeover bid is successful, the name Charles Vögele will disappear from the market and the stores will operate under OVS in the future.
Sempione Retail AG, backed by OVS S.p.A. and the two investors Aspen Trust and Retails Investment, published a public tender offer on September 19 to acquire all publicly held bearer shares of Charles Vögele. The Board of Directors of Charles Vögele supports the offer and recommends the shareholders to accept it.
"We have carefully analyzed Charles Vögele's portfolio. Thanks to attractive locations in the selected markets - first and foremost Switzerland and Austria - a comparable location policy and similar store formats, OVS has a unique opportunity to accelerate the brand's international expansion," says Stefano Beraldo, CEO of OVS, explaining the purchase offer. From summer 2017 to early 2018, Charles Vögele's stores are to be adapted to OVS's store concepts and renamed.
Withdrawal from Germany and sale of the properties
Sempione Retail would concentrate on the strategic markets of Switzerland, Austria, Hungary and Slovenia following the successful completion of the purchase offer, Charles Vögele announced. Most of the German sales organization is to be sold to a European retailer - an agreement to this effect has already been signed.
In addition, Charles Vögele has entered into an asset transfer agreement with a third party for the transfer of all properties in Switzerland, which is conditional upon the completion of the Purchase Offer. Charles Vögele would lease back part of the sold properties. The expected gross proceeds from this transaction are approximately CHF 169 million.
OVS says it is Italy's largest fashion company with a market share of 7.1 percent. It has 800 full-range stores and more than 500 children's stores (including around 150 stores abroad) and around 6,500 employees. Net sales in fiscal 2015 were 1.3 billion euros. The listed company includes the brands OVS, OVS Kids, UPIM and Blukids, among others. The company is already present in Switzerland with the OVS Kids label, operating a store in Lausanne.
Aspen Trust Services Limited, as trustee of Elarof Trust, is Charles Vögele's main shareholder with a 15.2 percent stake. Christophe Spadone, a member of the Board of Directors of Charles Vögele Holding AG, is a member of the family with economic entitlement to Elarof Trust. In addition, Aspen Trust holds a 20.5 percent stake in Sempione Retail. Retails Investment S.R.L. is owned by the Italian entrepreneurs Jonathan Kafri and Enzo de Gaspari.
Charles Vögele has been in crisis for years. In the 2015 financial year, the loss amounted to CHF 62 million. In the first half of 2016, the loss was CHF 32 million. Recently, the closure of stores was announced. (ah)
