Kellwood acquires Scotch & Soda

Part of Sun Capital Partners, American company Kellwood inked its agreement to acquire Dutch fashion company Scotch & Soda. By partnering with Kellwood, Scotch & Soda is looking to move into the American market and expand

internationally. The current board of directors including Joep Krouwels, Erik Bijlsma en Patrick Munsters, will stay on after the take over. The financial side of the agreement is unknown, but the acquisition will be finalised by the end of the month.

Initially, Scotch & Soda wasn’t for sale, Kellwood’s CEO Michael Karmer told WWD. By chance Kramer ran into the brand in a SoHo store in Manhattan. After his discovery he contacted the HQ in Amsterdam, but found out the company wasn’t for sale. After six months he managed to finally seal the deal, which is the largest and first international acquisition by Kellwood.

Scotch & Soda was set up by 24 year old Laurent Hompes in 1985. He launched a menswear collection that made name with directional jacket designs: sportive jackets with hoodies in bright colours for an affordable price. The early days have past, and in 2001 the company relaunched and got its brand identity of today. In 2008, the menswear line Scotch & Soda was expanded with a boys range Scotch Shrung. The following year a womenswear collection was introduced called Maison Scotch, and this year girls range Scotch R’Belle made launched. Since the end of 2010, Maison Scotch has also its own denim line called Amsterdams Blauw. Michael Kramer was enthusiastic about the product from the start, and this is the main focus of Kellwood. All the products tell their own story, and for the company creation that sells is key.

Three years ago, Scotch & Soda opened the doors of its first brand owned shop. The shop debuted in Utrecht, central of Holland, and a year later Amsterdam followed. Currently, the company counts 30 stores in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Italy and Spain. It has also shops in the US, Australia, Turkey, and Canada. Scotch & Soda's points of sale increased to 7.000 in 30 countries, and the company has 250 employees.

Image: Scotch & Soda