Safilo announces closing of solstice transaction and confirms expiration of Dior license on dec 31, 2020
Safilo Group S.p.A announces the closing of the transaction to sell its USA retail chain Solstice to Fairway LLC as previously communicated. Furthermore, Safilo also confirms that the license agreement for the Dior and Dior Homme collections of sunglasses and optical frames will end at its expiry date of Dec 31, 2020.
Safilo has been creating, producing and selling Christian Dior eyewear for over 20 years, establishing, nurturing and confirming its standing as one of the most appreciated brands in the industry, based on its highest quality craftsmanship and distribution, and selling more than 30 million pieces of Dior eyewear over that period. In the fiscal year 2018, the Dior license accounted for roughly 13% of Safilo total sales.
Safilo Group Chief Executive Officer, Angelo Trocchia stated: “During two decades of the Dior eyewear license, Safilo has created collections that have made history in the eyewear sector. Our company has 85 years of expertise, with a commitment to, and passion for the industry which we are proud of. To build an even stronger Safilo for the future we are ready to continue leveraging on our human capital and the solid foundations of our attractive and balanced license portfolio, as well as our proprietary brands which are growing in line with our plan. We will fully focus on our unique creativity, technology skills and people to expand even further our brand portfolio, already enriched with the renewals of key brands such as Kate Spade New York, Tommy Hilfiger, Havaianas, and Fossil, among others, and with the recently signed license agreements with Levi’s, Missoni, and David Beckham.”
We remain fully committed to our 2020 Group Business Plan, aiming to reignite sales growth focusing on key geographies, brands and channels while recovering operating performance enabled by our cost reduction program. We are on track with our goals and will further accelerate our journey towards restoring an adequate and sustainable level of profitability by 2020 which will enable us to effectively manage this license exit,” concluded Angelo Trocchia.
