It has been known for a few days that the insolvent Hamburg fashion provider Closed will get new owners. On Monday, the parties involved announced initial information as part of a press conference on how to continue with the brand. However, nothing was known about the purchase price.
Accordingly, Dieter Holzer takes over the management of the company as CEO and co -partner. He will continue to work with the previous management team around creative director Gordon Giers.
With Holzer, Closed receives an extremely experienced boss in the industry. In the course of his career, he had headed the German clothing companies Marc O’Polo and Tom Tailor. Before that, he had already worked at Tommy Hilfiger and Esprit. Together with the Böck family of entrepreneurs, who belongs to Marc O’Polo, Holzer had prevailed around Closed in the bidding competition.
Closed remains independent
Insolvency administrator Stefan Denkhaus said that the transaction now agreed is expected to be completed by the end of the month. Until then, approval by the Federal Cartel Office and the fulfillment of further closing conditions are still required. However, he had “no doubt” that these requirements would be achieved, said Denkhaus. However, negotiations are still being made about the future of the foreign companies of Closed.
Maximilian Böck, the current CEO of Marc O’Polo, emphasized that the takeover of Closed was a “private investment” of the family office of the Götz family. Closed and Marc O’Polo would therefore continue to be managed as independent companies in the future. “There are no plans to raise any synergies,” emphasized Böck.
He justified the investments by the fact that Closed “a great brand” was “a lot of potential”. He also emphasized the role of the matters: inside and the “whole structure that has been good for many years,” for the value of the company. The aim is therefore to take over as many employees as possible. However, around 25 dismissals are essential, explained insolvency administrator Denkhaus. Much of your own stores should also be preserved.
Strategic wrong decisions led to bankruptcy
Chief Restructuring Officer (Cro) Lothar Hiese once again emphasized that Closed was operational profitable until the end. In the 2023/24 financial year, a positive result before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) in the single -digit million range was achieved with sales of around 120 million euros. The bottom line was that due to the high debt, there was a single -digit loss loss.
This was justified with strategic misjudgments. In a difficult market environment, too much money was put into growth initiatives that would not have brought the hoped -for success, explained Hiese. In addition, the cost structures were “neglected a bit”. Overall, these factors would have led to high debt, which was ultimately no longer financed. The bankruptcy application then had to be submitted in early August.
There should be no longer any overambitious growth goals among the new owners. “We want to achieve a new profitability on a realistic, careful level of sales,” emphasized Hiese.