The sale of the brand portfolio, the domain name and the ultimate pieces interested a dozen buyers.
A dramatic twist before the first blow of the mallet. The file containing the data of four million Camaïeu customers has been removed from the auction which will take place this Wednesday in Vendeville (Nord). Buyers will, however, be able to share the intangible assets of the French brand, namely the brand portfolio, the various logos and the domain name, in addition to stocks of found clothing. “Of the ten potential buyers who paid the prior deposit of 50,000 euros, none retracted after the announcement» specifies the Figaro a representative of the Mercier house.
Placed in receivership since September 28, the Camaïeu brand had been forced to lay off its 2,600 employees and to auction off most of its stock of clothing. The French leader in general destocking Noz had seized it for 4.2 million euros.
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“Privacy Concern”
The decision to remove the batch of personal data was taken in a “concern for confidentiality“, explains the Mercier house. Indeed, the General Data Protection Regulation (RGPG) of 2018 stipulates that the sale of a customer file is not prohibited, but strictly regulated. Before the transmission of the file to the purchaser, all the customers should have been contacted again to renew their consent to appear in the database, wanted to remind the National Commission for Information and Freedoms (CNIL) in a communicated. Despite this turnaround, the sale remains exceptional. The final lot including the brand’s intellectual property rights is estimated at two million euros. Camaïeu enjoyed strong popularity in the field of women’s ready-to-wear since its creation in 1984.
Karine Renouil-Tiberghien and her partner Arnaud de Belabre are among the potential buyers. Their objective: to buy the brand in order to make it a 100% Made In France company. “Right from the start, we weren’t interested in the client file and we made that clear. We prefer that future customers leave us their email address freely in order to support our project.she says.
Towards a Camaïeu 2.0?
The two partners are already heavily involved in French textiles since the takeover of Manufacture de Lafayette et Tricots in 2016, followed by that of Jeann Ruiz in 2018 and Marcoux Lafay in 2020. After this potential new acquisition, the two serial buyers have plans to open a factory in Roubaix – Camaïeu’s home town – in addition to their factories in Pau and Roanne.
“Our objective is to revive the French textile industry. We want to offer products thought out, designed and sold in France in an eco-responsible and socio-responsible approach.says Karine Renouil-Tiberghien. However, this Camaïeu 2.0 will only see the light of day if the two partners win the auction. “We will not go above the reasonable. Each additional 100,000 euros is one less machine for our factories“. In this form or another, the Camaïeu sign should be reborn.
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