Belstaff joins Labelux portfolio

'Tis the season for mergers and acquisitions in the fashion sector, and hot on the heel of Jimmy Choo comes the purchase of Belstaff by Swiss luxury goods business Labelux.The undisclosed deal follows on from the recent retail acquisition surge,

with the purhcases of Kurt Geiger, Moncler and Labelux’s own purchase of Jimmy Choo being the standout buys of 2011.

Reinhard Mieck, chief executive officer of Labelux, comments: 'Belstaff is a unique asset with great heritage, a strong following and a very promising future as a major international luxury brand.

British heritage brand Belstaff was acquired in the 1990s by Franco Malenotti who re-launched the brand on the international markets.

Malenotti adds: 'Belstaff has represented 15 years of my life. I had the opportunity to work with passion, innovative spirit and awareness of preserving an important fact of our past. It is with satisfaction that I have seen the company grow and gain unexpected targets, such as collaboration with the major Hollywood productions.'

According to a statement Belstaff has an ambitious development plan involving geographic expansion and product extension, which will be accelerated by the acquisition.

Labelux now has a portfolio including Swiss-business Bally, New York-based apparel label Derek Lam, British jeweller Solange Azagury-Partridge, Italian accessories company Zagliani and luxury shoe retailers Jimmy Choo.

KPMG acted as financial adviser for the deal, with legal advice coming from Hogan Lovells Studio Legale.

Image: Belstaff SS11