Independent Brands Are More Difficult To Survive, And Viktor&Rolf Sells Shares To Diesel Owners.

Diesel parent OTB SpA increased the share of Holland's high fashion brand Viktor&Rolf to 70%, and the brand founder Viktor Horsting and Rolf Snoeren shared the remaining shares.

The above transaction means that the survival of the independent brand has become more and more difficult since the 2008 financial crisis. Viktor&Rolf sold 51% of its controlling interest in 2008, and then lost its control after losing its clothing series in 2015.

The Italy fashion group, which owns Diesel, Maison Margiela, Marni and Paula Cademartori, said in a 4 month performance statement that the company will spend 200 million euros on acquisitions in the future, and Viktor&Rolf is the first transaction issued by the statement.

In addition to mergers and acquisitions, OTB SpA said that the 200 million euro investment budget will also be used to strengthen the distribution of all brands of OTB SpA in various channels and markets, as well as to add 180 outlets to expand the retail network. In addition, it will also include restructuring fees for Diesel, especially in the US rebuilding brand, increasing growth in Europe and maintaining strong momentum in Asia.

However, the performance of OTB SpA in the past three years has also been disappointing, and the downturn in core business Diesel has dragged down the overall performance of the company.

In the 2018 fiscal year ending December 31, 2018, OTB SpA income fell 5.2% to 1 billion 439 million euros, and the fixed exchange rate decreased by 3.2%. The group pointed out that the designer's business covering Marni, Maison Margiela and Viktor&Rolf, and the Staff International and Brave Kid of its two garment manufacturers, "the overall trend is positive, and revenue has increased".

The adjusted EBITDA decreased by 21% to 41 million 500 thousand euros a year. Regular business recorded a net loss of 26 million euros, while in 2017 fiscal year, the group achieved a net profit of 3 million euros.

Since 2008, Diesel USA Inc. has no longer recorded profits, operating losses totaling US $198 million over the past eleven years. After the financial crisis, the company recorded the highest income of $221 million in 2012, and dropped to $104 million in 2018, of which wholesale sales fell from US $69 million in 2014 to US $19 million in 2018.

OTB SpA, founder and chairman of Renzo Rosso's son Stefano Rosso, is the chief executive officer of Diesel USA Inc..