Deichmann shows interest in footwear trademark rights of bankrupt Esprit

Shoe store chain Deichmann is interested in the brand rights for shoes of the bankrupt fashion brand Esprit. The company confirmed this to a German press agency. "The offer concerns only brand rights and no operational business interests of the company," a spokesperson shared.

According to its own statements, Deichmann has been working with Esprit since 2019 and sells shoes from the fashion brand. The two companies have been developing shoe collections together for four years. The company was informed of the possibility of acquiring the license package at short notice, according to the Deichmann spokesman. The talks are still ongoing. Esprit did not want to comment on the request. Earlier, 'Business Insider' had reported on this.

Esprit Europe GmbH and six other group companies of the fashion group filed for bankruptcy under their own administration in May. In early August it was announced that the fashion group would close all of its 56 branches in Germany by the end of the year. As a result, around 1,300 employees will lose their jobs.

The brand rights for the bankrupt European activities will be sold. The creditors' committees of the German Esprit companies have agreed to sign a basic agreement ('Term Sheet') with the British investor Alteri and its fashion company CBR Fashion. This was announced in early August. The group's holding company in Hong Kong has also agreed to this, it was reported. CBR includes the fashion brands Cecil and Street One.

The family-owned company Deichmann achieved gross sales of 8.7 billion euros for the first time in 2023. Sales in Germany rose by around nine percent to almost 2.8 billion euros. Deichmann has around 4,700 branches worldwide, 1,400 of which are in the Federal Republic of Germany.(DPA)

This article originally appeared on FashionUnited.DE. Translation via AI and edit by Rachel Douglass.