Paris – A new bidder created the surprise this week by announcing an offering to takeover the French fashion house

After a 22 years loss-making business and a negative result of 10 million euros ($14.3 million) in 2008, the French fashion house Christian Lacroix filed for bankruptcy last May. During the summer, the administrator received offers from three companies proposing to take over the fashion house from the current shareholder, Falic Group, which owns U.S. retail group Duty Free Americas

The designer made a joint bid with the Italian group Borletti, main shareholder of the department stores Rinascente (Milan) and Printemps (Paris). Borletti was said to be the preferred solution and on Sept 7, Reuters reported that “the administrator for Christian Lacroix hopes owners Falic Group can reach an agreement with Italian businessman Maurizio Borletti on a rescue plan for the French fashion house by the end of the month”.

Another bid was submitted in July by the French turnaround investment group Bernard Krief Consulting which is known to takeover medium-sized companies in bankrupt. The administrator announced to reuters that Bernard Krief Consulting reinforced its proposal by submitting a revised bid, last week, with a financial partner from the U.A.E. (source Reuters 22/09/09)

The third competitor is the Financiere Saint-Germain, which acquired china and cut-glass makers Haviland, Lalique and Daum.

Then, on Sept 21, Le Figaro announced that the administrator talked about “new candidates, apparently credible and wealthy” and, according to the newspaper, it is the ruling family of Ajman, the smallest of the seven Arab emirates. Sheikh Hassan ben Ali al-Naimi, nephew of the ruler, sent a letter of intent to the administrator and is finalizing an offer of more than 50 million euros. The sheikh plans to make the brand profitable within the next three years, in particular by creating synergies with other activities such as real-estate and luxury yachts. (source Le Figaro 21/09/09)

The sheikh would be ready to discuss with the Falic brothers but an alliance would be unlikely because the new comer wants to be the sole decision-maker.

Ajman is a micro state of 460 km² and 250,000 habitants located close to Dubai.

Decision in a very near future  

Officially, the deadline decided by the administrator for bid submission is Sept 25. But as this case is highly visible in France, the prevailing logic may be political as much as financial. 125 jobs are at stake, not mentioning the fact that Christian Lacroix is one of the very last fashion houses playing in the Haute-Couture arena.

During the last weeks, the designer met the Ministry of Industry twice, on July 28 and Sept 7, and in the current economical context, the Ministry may push for a French solution rather than giving the lead to foreign investors.


Yvon Le Gall
Luxury-world

http://www.borlettigroup.com/

http://www.krief-group.com/