FAILED FASHION BRANDS GRANTED SECOND CHANCE
COLLAPSED up-market fashion chains Rhodes & Beckett and Herringbone have been sold as part of a management buyout backed by a Hong Kong-based private equity house.
It marks a rare positive development for a clothing, footwear and apparel sector struggling from a spate of failures in recent months.
Cor Cordis, the administrator to the twin failed menswear stores, has announced both brands will survive, as will the jobs of employees at the retailers.
The buyer is Black Bear Holdings, headed by Michel Boutin, who is brand director for the retailers and backed by private equity house AO Capital.
Based in Hong Kong, AO is an investment banking business focused on early stage venture investments.
It has interests in retail and, according to its website, “specialises in acquisitions of distressed assets in order to realise potential value and growth through active partnership with management and operational expertise”.
It means German luxury apparel maker van Laack is relinquishing its exclusive rights to the Rhodes & Beckett and Herringbone brands in Australia after a long stint.
In 2009, van Laack bought Herringbone from administrators and in 2012 it bought Rhodes & Beckett.
Negotiations remain ongoing with landlords of the 15 remaining Rhodes & Beckett and Herringbone stores, which ultimately will determine the new store footprint.
As a precursor to the sale, eight Rhodes & Beckett concessions were closed at Myer outlets.
It comes as Rhodes & Beckett and Herringbone run extensive stocktaking sales across their remaining stores, offering discounts as deep as 80 per cent.
A relaunch of Rhodes & Beckett and Herringbone is expected later this year, with the brands to be resuscitated both in Australia and internationally.