Belgian group buys French subsidiary of Scotch & Soda

Belgium's Groep Alain Broekaert (GAB) has taken over the French subsidiary of Dutch fashion retailer Scotch & Soda, which means that the jobs in the French stores are preserved, according to a press release.

As a result of the acquisition, GAB will own 100 percent of Scotch & Soda Retail SAS. The acquisition is a logical step for fashion distributor GAB, which is the founder of Scotch & Soda Belgium, meaning it already owns 25 of the brand’s stores across Belgium and Luxembourg.

Alain Broekaert, founder of GAB and Scotch & Soda Belgium, said in the press release: “With our long-standing commitment to the Scotch & Soda brand and our experience in the internationalisation of the company, we are well positioned to provide strategic direction to the brand and stimulate further growth.”

It comes after the Dutch entities of Scotch & Soda were declared bankrupt earlier this year. However, the bankruptcy did not affect the company’s entities outside of the Netherlands.

Scotch & Soda reported at the time that the chain was suffering from "serious cash flow problems" due to the lockdowns during the corona crisis followed by microeconomic issues including high inflation.

A week after the bankruptcy, Scotch & Soda was rescued by American investment company Bluestar Alliance. At the time of the takeover it was not clear in which countries Scotch & Soda would remain active.

Bluestar reported last week that it will continue the brand's activities in the US.

This article was originally written for FashionUnited.nl before being translated and edited to English