SuperGroup acquires European franchise

The owner of the Superdry brand, SuperGroup acquired the whole share capital of its Benelux and France franchise and distribution partner CNC Collections BVBA. It was bought from its principal Luc Clément, CNC Collections BVBA together with its

main subsidiaries Snow & Surf BVBA, CNC Collections France SARL and SD Retail Netherlands, the global leading franchisee for the Superdry brand.

Through the acquisition the Group is able to capture larger margins on growing sales within Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and France, hence SuperGroup is one of the UK’s fastest growing international branded retailers. It will also accelerate its international franchise roll out and the possibilities to create owned larger format stores in key locations across Europe.

CNC is an established fashion franchising and wholesaling business, which has been operating since 1994. It has been a distribution partner of SuperGroup since 2004 and has been a franchisee since April 2008. It currently managing 29 stores, comprising 12 owned and 17 sub franchised, with a number of further planned openings. The brand delivered an increase in sales of more than 150% over the past year. SuperGroup expects sales to exceed €40 million and consolidated profits to increase in the region of €8 million in the first full 12 months of ownership. It is also expected that the Group will maintain a net positive cash position following the transaction.

Julian Dunkerton, Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The acquisition of CNC is a major step in our European growth strategy, allowing us to capture additional gross profit in four key territories, driving our franchise acceleration and opening the possibility of company owned larger format stores in key shopping centres across Europe. I am delighted that Luc Clément will be joining us at this critical moment in our expansion. His experience will be invaluable in helping to drive our franchise operation to a new level.’’

In 1985, SuperGroup began with the founding of Cult Clothing established by Julian Dunkerton. Several years in 2003 he teamed up with designer James Holder, the brain behind Bench brand, and created in-house brand Superdry, which was introduced into Cult Clothing store a year later. Together with partner Theo Karpathios the UK's Group and international wholesale business was brought to life. Superdry is sold in over 70 countries across the globe, and CNC's aggregate profit before tax for the 12 months to 31 December 2009 was €1.9 million.

Image: Superdry