Takeover Stephane Kelian

The French entrepreneur behind fashion company France Luxury Group, Alain Dumenil, this week announced he received permission from the bankruptcy court to acquire French shoe company Stephane Kelian SA for three million euro (GBP 1,93 million).

With is move Dumenil has outraced other companies hoping to snap up Stephane Kelian such as fashion retailer Etam Developpement. Last year he also acquired menswear brand Francesco Smalto and France Luxury Group, which owns the Jean-Louis Scherrer, Jacques Fath, Emmanuelle Khanh and Harel brands.

In a statement Dumenil said: "The acquisition of Stephane Kelian is a further step towards building the company into a leading luxury conglomerate." He added that he will save 400 of the 540 jobs at stake at Stephane Kelian that is based in Bourg-de-Peage. Last year the company posted a loss of 1.2 million euro (GBP 0,8 million) on a turnover of 46.3 million euro (GBP 29,8 million) in 2001, following a loss of 2.1 million euro (GBP 1,4 million) the year before.