The Ara Group is looking for investors for the shoe brands Lloyd and Salamander. The sale of the two brands follows a strategic realignment of the Wuppertal-based group. The Ara Group announced on Tuesday that this would concentrate exclusively on its own brand, Ara Shoes.
The aim of the restructuring is to further develop Lloyd and Salamander with new owners in a future-oriented manner, while Ara will focus on its original brand again. The operational business of the two brands will continue as usual during the search for investors and the around 500 employees of Lloyd and Salamander in Germany do not have to fear any significant effects. There are currently no changes for partners of the brand either.
“With this comprehensive realignment, we are creating the best possible conditions for the future of the LLOYD and Salamander brands,” says Ara CEO Andreas Wortmann. “At the same time, we ensure that the traditional brand Ara Shoes, which was founded more than 70 years ago as the core of the company, will continue to receive all the necessary resources in the future. In this way, it can grow profitably in the long term and take advantage of opportunities in an extremely challenging market environment.”
Corona pandemic and Ukraine war reduce “entrepreneurial scope”
The group cites the effects of the corona pandemic and the war in Ukraine as the reason for the realignment. The group’s “entrepreneurial scope for design” has been reduced by the crises and the development opportunities for the brands are restricted as a result.
Now it is a matter of finding strategic partners or investors who can further develop both Lloyd and Salamander. Both brands are “well positioned to grow successfully in a significantly changed consumer environment,” says Patrick Röseler, member of the Ara AG Supervisory Board and representative of the founding family. “We are firmly convinced that this will work best with financially strong partners who recognize this potential and develop it further in the long term. With our strategic realignment, we are fulfilling our corporate responsibility and creating the best possible conditions for a successful future for the individual brands,” he said.
Lloyd has been part of the Ara Group since 2000, Salamander followed in 2003. In December, both Salamander Deutschland GmbH & Co. KG, which belongs to the group, and the associated Schuhhaus Klauser GmbH & Co. KG, underwent a comprehensive restructuring as part of a protective shield procedure announced.