Vivarte continues its restructuring: proposed merge of La Halle Footwear and Fashion

French fashion group Vivarte still engaged in an ambitious restructuring plan with the idea of saving the brands that contribute most to the textile conglomerate. The new CEO, Stéphane Maquaire, needs to take the reigns of a mounting corporate debt worth of 1.3 billion euros in debt.

As reported by French publication 'Challenges', the new head of Vivarte has cooked the implementation of an ambitious restructuring plan. His immediate proposal: merging La Halle La Halle Shoes and Fashion.

The company resulting from the merger would have a huge network of 1,050 outlets in France. The CEO has however proposed to trim down the commercial network, closing hundreds of stores, starting with the least profitable ones.

CEO of Vivarte proposes to close 100 stores of the merged La Halle

For now, Maquaire has to convince the Board, which will review its proposal at the next Board of Directors to be held on July, 19. "The idea of merging the two brands has made its way but shareholders demand more money," said a person familiar with the matter and quoted by French press.

Maquaire, former director of Monoprix, is the third head of Vivarte in less than four years. With increasing pressure to solve the pressing economic problems of the group, Richard Simonin’s successor proposed at the last Board of Directors held on July, 7 to merge the two major brands of the company, La Halle Fashion and La Halle Footwear. McKinsey consultants have been working on this hypothesis for several weeks, he says 'Challenges'.

For now, the group has announced plans to get rid of a shoe factory that could happen to fall in the hands of a German fund. Three non-strategic brands, Kookai, Pataugas, and Chevignon are also for sale.

Image: http://www.lahalle.com/