Two very partial takeover bids for footwear brand André

Two very partial takeover bids for the footwear brand André, which has been in administration since the end of April, were published on Thursday by the Paris Commercial Court.

The first of these bids comes from the Brittany-based group Beaumanoir, owner of Sarenza, which has previously acquired Naf Naf, Jennyfer and La Halle.

Beaumanoir, potential acquirer of André brand

It proposes to buy all of André's brands and its domain names for 500,000 euros. The group intends to “redeploy (...) in the medium term” in its La Halle stores or on the marketplace of its Sarenza website.

Beaumanoir's offer does not mention taking over any stores or employees. According to a document from the Paris Commercial Court, André now has only 47 employees.

The second bid was made by the current director of André's parent company, Belgian businessman Karim Redjal. He proposes to retain six stores, two concessions and ten employees (eight in-store, two at head office) through a new subsidiary created for the purpose. Karim Redjal acquired André in 2023, taking on 119 employment contracts for 701,000 euros.

At the time, he aimed to relaunch the footwear brand, particularly by modernising stores and reducing costs.

Despite an “injection of more than 6 million euros”, André was “faced with a sluggish economic climate (...)” and the “burden of rising rents”, according to the takeover bid.

It was in this context that André was placed in administration at the end of April, for the third time in five years. With his offer, Redjal intends to “focus on its most profitable stores”.

André's management did not immediately respond to AFP's requests for comment.

In May, the brand Cyrillus had already proposed to buy the business assets of an André store in La Rochelle. These bids can still be improved until the court's ruling, which will potentially validate one or more offers.

French ready-to-wear is going through a deep crisis. It has been shaken after the Covid-19 pandemic by rampant inflation and competition from Asian sites like Shein.

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