Hugo Boss agrees to sell Russian business to wholesale partner Stockmann (updated)

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24/04/2024 10:20

(Adds Hugo Boss statement, new details in paragraphs 1, 4-8)
       MOSCOW, April 24 (Reuters) - Hugo Boss  BOSSn.DE  has
agreed to sell its Russian business to wholesale partner
Stockmann, the German fashion house said on Wednesday, a deal
that will end its presence in Russia a little over two years
after suspending operations there.
    Hugo Boss, along with many store groups, suspended its
retail business in Russia soon after Moscow despatched its army
to Ukraine in February 2022. It also paused its e-commerce
activities in the Russian market and stopped advertising.     
    Russia's government commission on foreign asset sales has
approved the deal, Interfax reported, citing Deputy Minister of
Industry and Trade Viktor Yevtukhov, with one of the conditions
being that all jobs are preserved. 
    Hugo Boss did not disclose financial terms of the deal.
Russia demands that foreign companies sell assets at discounts
of at least 50%.
    "As a result of the agreement, Hugo Boss will no longer be
present in Russia with its own legal entity," Hugo Boss said in
a statement. 
    The sale, which Hugo Boss said was still subject to approval
by a national European authority, is expected to close in the
third quarter of this year, Interfax reported. 
    Hugo Boss had come under pressure for continuing to supply
some goods to Russia from organisations like B4Ukraine, a
coalition of civil society groups, which seeks to compel Western
companies to sever ties with Russia. 
    "In terms of our wholesale business, we were fulfilling the
contractual obligations to our partners," Hugo Boss said. "In
this context, Hugo Boss is and has been complying with existing
EU sanctions at all times."

 (Reporting by Reuters in Moscow, Alexander Marrow in London and
Linda Pasquini in Gdansk;
Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Mark Potter
)
 ((alexander.marrow@thomsonreuters.com;))