Liu Jo Group Establishes Newco to Boost Menswear Division
The joint venture between Liu Jo Group and its long-standing menswear licensee Co.ca.ma Srl is seen as furthering the international appeal of the men's collections.
MILAN — Signaling its ambition to further develop its menswear division, the Liu Jo Group, parent of the namesake brand, said Tuesday it has established a newco named Liu Jo Uomo Srl to manage the men's business.
The company is a joint venture with Liu Jo Uomo's longstanding licensing partner Co.ca.ma Srl, based in Italy's southern Campania region. As part of the deal, Liu Jo Group, the main shareholder, owns 51 percent of the company, while the remainder is held by Co.ca.ma Srl.
The founder of the licensing partner, Giuseppe Nardelli, will remain involved in day-to-day operations in the role of chief executive officer of the newly established entity. The licensing deal between Liu Jo Group and Co.ca.ma was first inked in 2012.
The deal is expected to help boost Liu Jo Uomo's business in Italy and especially abroad where the Liu Jo Group has stronger footprint.
“The birth of the Liu Jo Uomo [company] is a milestone for the group. We not only aim to consolidate Liu Jo's menswear business but also enhance synergies with other brands' collections,” said Marco Marchi, president of the group and also founder of the Eccellenze Italiane (EIH) conglomerate. The latter was established in fall 2019 in tandem with the acquisition of a 15 percent stake in Italian retailer Coin SpA and, later that year, of the Gruppo Blufin and its brands Blumarine, Blugirl, Anna Molinari and Be Blumarine from the founding Tarabini family.
“Over the past few years, Liu Jo Uomo reported extremely interesting figures. The new deal is poised to preserve the culture and excellence in menswear from the Campania region, enriching it with the commercial experience and financial strength of Liu Jo. This collaboration is aimed at achieving excellent results. The project is ambitious but rooted in a 20-year collaboration between entrepreneurs and I'm convinced that all the premises are there to follow in the footsteps of the success of Liu Jo's womenswear [ business],” Marchi said.
Liu Jo SpA was founded in 1995 in Carpi, Italy, outside Modena, a storied knitwear hub in the Emilia Romagna region, and the brand spans readyto-wear, kidswear, bags, shoes and accessories, in addition to jewelry, watches, fragrances and eyewear.
Liu Jo products are available in 45 countries through some 280 flagship stores and about 5,000 multibrand doors.
“This deal crowns the success we achieved so far with the menswear project,” Nardelli said. “The strategic rationale, developed years ago, was to introduce a menswear collection offering versatile products for different occasions of use banking on the contemporary interpretation of the iconic Italian style."