Japan's Onward sells Jil Sander label to Italian luxury group OTB (updated)
05/03/2021 10:09
(Adds details)
By Rocky Swift and Ritsuko Ando
TOKYO, March 5 (Reuters) - Japanese retailer Onward Holdings
8016.T is selling its loss-making Jil Sander brand to Italian
luxury conglomerate OTB, which will add the label to a
collection that includes Diesel, Maison Margiela and Marni.
Onward, which bought the Jil Sander brand for about $244
million in 2008, said in a Tokyo Stock Exchange release on
Friday that the subsidiary recorded a loss of 17.8 million euros
($21.22 million) in the year through February 2020.
The company, which depends heavily on sales at Japanese
department stores and has struggled with pandemic-related
closures and weak consumer spending, said it aimed to shore up
its finances by exiting the Jil Sander business.
OTB chairman Renzo Rosso said he had always admired and
respected Jil Sander since the fashion house was established by
the eponymous German designer in 1968. The brand was bought by
Prada 1913.HK in 1999 but sold again in 2006. Sander has
largely not been involved with the label since 2004.
"Despite the changes of ownership and creative direction,
the house has always stayed true to its founder's vision,
maintaining an absolute commitment to beauty, quality, and its
signature minimalist approach," Rosso said in a statement.
Onward did not disclose the sale price in the deal with
closely-held OTB, citing confidentiality.
OTB's chief executive Ubaldo Minelli told Reuters last month
it was eyeing the German label among other brands for a possible
acquisition as prices had fallen due to the coronavirus crisis.
Minelli said last month there was a window of opportunity as
industry multiples were "a little more reasonable" than the had
been before the COVID-19 pandemic. urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL8N2KG5U9
OTB's revenues fell 14% to 1.32 billion euros last year, a
less severe drop than suffered by many of its competitors. Core
earnings, or EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation
and amortisation), fell by 7% to 176 million euros.
(Reporting by Ritsuko Ando, Rocky Swift in Tokyo and Claudia
Cristoferi in Milan; Editing by David Goodman and Alexander
Smith)
((Ritsuko.Ando@reuters.com; +81 3 6441 1743;))