The ailing Ahlers AG gets a new owner with the Röther Group.
The insolvency administrators Biner Bähr and Bero-Alexander Lau, partners at White & Case, have succeeded in selling the business operations of the Herford-based company to companies in the Röther Group, the law firm announced on Monday. This includes the insolvent clothing group Ahlers AG and the affected subsidiaries Ahlers PCGmbH, Ahlers Retail GmbH, Ahlers Zentralverwaltung GmbH, Ahlers Vertrieb GmbH, Pioneer Professional Clothing GmbH, Pioneer Jeans-Beclothing GmbH and Baldessarini GmbH and Ahlers Textilhandel GmbH & Co. KG.
“We have extremely busy months behind us. We are very happy to have found a strong, strategically oriented investor with experience in the fashion industry in the Röther Group, who will retain the traditional Ahlers company,” said Bähr
Out for “a few business areas” of Ahlers AG
But shares in numerous subsidiaries, including in Poland and Sri Lanka, which were not affected by the insolvency proceedings, are also owned by the group behind the retailer Modepark Röther. According to the announcement, the effectiveness of the purchase agreements still depends on the fulfillment of several closing conditions.
However, not all business areas are taken over. For “a few business areas” of the fashion group there is no longer any need after the purchase agreement has been executed because they “do not fit in with the strategic orientation of the Röther Group”.
“After the past few difficult weeks, it is very gratifying that a strategic investor has been found in the Röther Group, who will continue to run the vast majority of the business operations and brands of Ahlers AG,” says Stella Ahlers, CEO of Ahlers AG.
Ahlers employs more than 1,600 people worldwide. Around 170 jobs at the insolvent Ahlers companies, 230 jobs at the majority of the European subsidiaries and 900 jobs at the subsidiary in Sri Lanka are to be retained.
“The takeover of Ahlers after very professional negotiations is a strategic step towards expanding our wholesale activities,” said Michael Röther, Managing Partner of the Röther Group. “We look forward with great confidence to the future cooperation with the experienced employees in Herford, Europe and Sri Lanka as well as with the customers and suppliers.”