Ready-to-Wear: Kookaï announces the takeover of 16 stores and 70 jobs by Antonelle-Un jour ailleurs

Europe 1 with AFP // Photo credits: Philippe HUGUEN / AFP 16:34 p.m., November 30, 2023

The ready-to-wear brand Kookaï, which is in receivership, said on Thursday that it would be partially taken over by the French clothing group Antonelle-Un jour ailleurs. "Faced with six other competitors, it was to Antonelle that the judge sold the Kookaï brand, which had been looking for a buyer since September 15, 2023," a statement said. "The group has presented the most favourable offer for the company as it is taking over 16 stores, 17 corners and also preserving 70 jobs," he continued. Kookaï has a hundred stores in France and is present in Spain, Switzerland, the United States and Australia. The group employs 220 people.

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Stores that are not taken back will be closed

The Antonelle-Un jour ailleurs group offered a sale price of 300,000 euros, according to the offer submitted. It was notably preferred to that of GD Distribution (Gérard Darel & Pablo) and Beaumanoir (Caroll, Morgan, Cache Cache, Bréal, Bonobo, etc.). "We are very happy to have taken over this brand and thus avoid its disappearance. It's a brand that we knew in our youth and that we are particularly fond of. We will do everything we can to restore it to its former glory," Samy Cohen, president of the Antonelle-UJA group, said in a statement.

His group will "in the following months, redeploy a fleet of stores in France and then in Europe with the opening of fifteen new stores and a particular focus on digital," he adds. Launched in France in 1983 and bought in 2017 by Australian Rob Cromb, the brand was placed in receivership in February. In September, the Paris Commercial Court ruled that the company's cash flow was insufficient to finance the proposed continuation plan and paved the way for its takeover.