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Liu Jo restructures and targets listing and international expansion
On 15th March Liu Jo completed a company reorganisation worth €130 million. The Italian fashion label has a new governance and financial structure, and a stock exchange listing is on the cards. The objective is to create the ideal conditions to keep growing the business, by enhancing the group's managerial organisation, internationalising the brand and carrying out ad hoc initiatives. Private and institutional investors will also play a role, while medium-long term financing has been arranged with the IMI and Intesa Sanpaolo banks.
The stakes held in Liu Jo by its owners, the brothers Vannis and Marco Marchi, have changed. Vannis, 68, has left the group's board of directors, though he still retains a 10% shareholding in Liu Jo. Marco, 53, has instead added the role of CEO to that of Creative Director.
"Liu Jo closed 2016 with an EBITDA on the up, reaching nearly €50 million. The revenue was €305 million, and has nearly doubled in ten years. In 2017 we plan to grow by at least 3%, said Marco Marchi to FashionNetwork.com. Within this year we plan to acquire a majority stake in the licences owned by Nardelli Luxury, which produces watches and jewellery for us, and in Liu Jo Uomo, a menswear line produced and distributed in Europe and the Middle East by Naples company Co.Ca.Ma. Our consolidated revenue could actually exceed expectations, and reach close to €400 million in 2017."
Liu Jo was founded in 1995 in the Italian town of Carpi, a hub for fashion and knitwear, and its full range includes apparel, footwear and accessories. The brand is currently present in 50 countries in three continents (Europe, Africa and Asia) with a distribution network consisting of over 350 monobrand stores and over 5,000 multibrand retailers. Exports account for 38% of Liu Jo's revenue, but the label is keen to expand further afield, targeting the rest of Europe, the USA, Russia and the Middle East.
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