mutares AG to acquire Laurèl, apriori und cavita from ESCADA

Effective June 1, 2009 mutares AG, Munich, will acquire the Primera Group (http://www.primera.ag/) with the brands Laurèl (http://www.laurel.de/), apriori (http://www.apriori-fashion.de/) and cavita(http://www.cavita.de/) from ESCADA AG, Aschheim (Munich). While Laur?l is an established premium brand in the diffusion segment, the brands apriori and cavita target the bridge and medium segments. The brand BiBA is excluded from this transaction.

With their key sales markets in Europe and Asia, Laurèl, apriori, and cavita have generated about € 100 m in revenues last year. All brands offer high quality womenswear exclusively.

Robin Laik (http://www.mutares.de/company/executive-board/robin-laik/en/), founder and member of the executive board of mutares, looks ahead after the successful closing of the negotiations. “After very constructive meetings with Escada we are taking over some of the most renowned brands in the fashion industry. Our goal is to further advance the significant potential of Primera’s brands.” Dr. Thomas Kleinhenz, formerly managing director of PUMA Germany and director of M&A at mutares, is set to get involved operationally at Primera Group. “Together with the teams in Münster and Munich, we plan to quickly return to the brand’s former strength. The right measures will enable us to recapture the market positions of Laurèl, apriori and cavita and strengthen them further.”