Underwear group Eminence bought by Delta Galil

Several investors were considering a move, after the LBO France investment fund, Eminence’s majority shareholder since 2011, expressed the intention of selling its stake in the French underwear specialist, encouraged by the latter’s convincing results.

Israeli group Delta Galil appeared to be in pole position and, without revealing the amount of the transaction, it has now issued a press release announcing a deal has been struck.

"We are very happy to add Eminence to our portfolio, since it holds a dominant position on the French men’s underwear market, with a strong consumer appeal,” said Isaac Dabah, CEO of Delta Galil. “It is a remarkable operation for Delta Galil, reflecting our strategic efforts to expand our brand operations and make a significant impact with Delta Galil in France and Italy, where our business is modest for the time being. We see this opportunity as a growth factor, providing potential synergies in terms of product range, innovation and operations,” he added.

Delta Galil indicated that the Eminence group generates a revenue of nearly €100 million, via its brands Eminence, active in the premium segment, and Athena, in the sport segment, as well as Italian underwear label Liabel.

"Eminence brings to Delta a premium men’s label, ranked number two for market share in men’s underwear in France, and a product range including underwear, polos and technical tops, and the Eminence Tech + products,” stated the press release.

The Eminence group’s business is mostly focused on the men’s segment (87% of revenue),and 79% of its sales are produced in France, with another 17% coming from Italy. In 2017, womenswear accounted for 8% of sales, and childrenswear for 5%. The Eminence group has nearly 500 employees in France, another 195 in a factory in Romania and about sixty in Italy.

Delta Galil manufactures underwear for several global brands, among them Calvin Klein and Lacoste. The acquisition will boost the Israeli group's portfolio of proprietary labels, and is expected to allow Delta Galil to top the $1.5 billion revenue mark in 2019. The deal should be finalised during the third quarter of 2018.

Underwear group Eminence bought by Delta Galil

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