German leather goods’ manufacturers ending up being owned by a Portuguese (leather) seats’ maker. The whole operations turned out to be alast resort saving operation. Main characters of the story: German brand Bree and Portuguese group Coindu. The first had been living troubled and turbulent times, and was heading for bankruptcy, after an insolvency procedure that rose after insufficient sales performances, specifically in the online segment.
Here comes Coindu
Coindu manufactures leather covers for seats utilized in the automotive segment. It employs around 6,000 people (with production sites in Romania and Mexico as well). Yearly revenue for the group is of around 348 million euro. Its main clients are: Volkswagen, BMW, Mini and Rolls-Royce. A choice to focus on this type of production that, in time, brought the group to a diversification strategy, reason for which Coindu decided to acquire Bree.
The rescue
Coindu points out that it “already supplies one of the main international fashion powerhouses that sells purses and small accessories”. Therefore, the group decided to enlarge its leather goods’ operation and saving the Bree brand, along with its 150 employees.
The tannery
Coindu had already shopped in Germany, as a matter of facts. Portugal-based group had acquired the majority ownership of Hewa Leder, tannery founded in 1984, in July 2016. The tannery has 170 workers and has a production capacity of up to 20,000 square meters of leather per week. It distributes leather to luxury automakers, as well as to premium ones, along with makers of design furniture and yacht.
