CCC acquired 70% of shares in the Karl Vögele AG

The CCC Group acquired 70% of shares in the Swiss company Karl Vögele AG. The total value of the transaction is 10 million francs. At the same time, the current chairman of the Supervisory Board of KVAG, Mr. Max Manuel Vögele, is increasing his shares up to 30%, remaining on his position. Both sides count on the benefits of cooperation - the Swiss side is expected to benefit from the scale of business conducted by CCC, and the Polish side on the strong local position of KVAG.

The new CCC transaction is a continuation of the consistently implemented foreign expansion strategy pursued by the company. Karl Vogele AG is the second player on the Swiss market, with over 200 stores and approximately 10% share in the local footwear industry.

"KVAG as a company rooted in Switzerland for almost 100 years, with a huge brand recognition and reputation, is a partner that enables the CCC Group to take a significant position on the footwear market there, which is slightly smaller than the Polish one. Officially from today, both the company's management, its employees and contractors are our partners with a common goal - to build an even, more attractive footwear offer for our clients. ", comments Dariusz Miłek, President of CCC.

KVAG will continue to operate on the Swiss market thanks to Vogele Shoes, Bingo and MAX sales network. Integration with the CCC Group, which generates annual sales of around EUR 1 billion, opens significant growth prospects for KVAG in both offline and online channels. Now, after a two-year restructuring process, with large investments in online stores and business and entry to the CCC Group, KVAG is ready to expand its position again on the Swiss footwear market. In the coming years, significant business synergies will be achieved thanks to the cooperation - the Swiss will benefit from the CCC purchasing scale and the Group's know-how in the development of the collection, which will provide customers with an attractive range of footwear and accessories, as well as, additional development opportunities for employees and business partners. In return, the Polish company is to take advantage of the strong local position of KVAG and its knowledge of the German-speaking consumer market in Europe (DACH region).

"We are extremely pleased that we have found such a strong partner as the CCC Group, which is a leading player on the European footwear market, as well as a rapidly growing and financially strong company." This partnership will enable us to continue the strategy launched by KVAG in recent years and achieve market success. By selling a part of the company to such an entity, we have made a responsible decision that will pay off for our clients, our employees and business partners," emphasizes Max Manuel Vogele, chairman of the KVAG Supervisory Board, whose shares, in the company, increased after finalizing the transaction from 10% to 30%.

The total area of the CCC sales network in Poland and abroad is currently over 550,000. m2 and has 950 stores, including more than half abroad. The CCC group is present in a total of 20 countries (17 offline and 12 online). As at March 31, 2018, CCC employed over 13,000 employees.