Yahoo Finance Sportswear brand Skins goes bust
Sportswear manufacturer Skins, known for their compression wear, has filed for bankruptcy in the Swiss Court.
In a blog post on the company’s website last Thursday, Skins chairman Jaimie Fuller announced that a cocktail of factors involving the global financial crisis, a “lousy deal”, and mounting debts had led to the ultimate decision to file for bankruptcy.
“When the global financial crisis (GFC) hit in 2008, I sold a portion of SKINS to a private equity firm,” he wrote.
“I also made a lousy deal. When the GFC was over, I had to get out of the private equity arrangement. To do so, we borrowed heavily, and with the help of a Japanese partner we managed to buy out the private equity shareholders.
“To my enormous regret, those borrowings have become unsustainable and while we have been working for some time now to try to avoid what is happening today, in the end there was no choice.”
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A post shared by Official SKINS Sportswear (@skinssportswear) on Nov 28, 2018 at 9:30pm PST
A trustee will be appointed to assume responsibility for the company with “almost immediate effect,” he said.
However, he indicated that the sportswear label will continue to trade.
“Skins as a brand will not disappear; the brand will merely change ownership; and those of you who love and already wear Skins will still be able to buy the products.”
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A post shared by Official SKINS Sportswear (@skinssportswear) on Nov 30, 2018 at 9:45pm PST
The manufacturer is the latest in a trend of retailers going bankrupt, announcing voluntary administration or completely shutting up shop amid high rental costs and a languishing brick-and-mortar retail environment due to the popularity of e-commerce.
Menswear brand Ed Harry announced its closure only last Wednesday, whilst January will be the last month of trading for luxury skincare retailer Crabtree & Evelyn’s Australian operations and jewellery line Samantha Wills.
Fuller said he had “left no stone unturned” in an effort to avoid filing for bankruptcy.
“I apologise unreservedly to all those affected by it,” he wrote.
“I am enormously regretful and sad that it has got to this point. Even as late as yesterday, it looked like there was an option for avoiding this action but events conspired against us and left us with no option at all.”
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