Closed acquisition: Germany's Federal Cartel Office gives green light

The acquisition of Closed by the Böck entrepreneurial family and fashion manager Dieter Holzer can now proceed. Germany's Federal Cartel Office has approved the takeover of the insolvent Closed Group by capital-Home GmbH, the authority announced on Friday. Capital-Home GmbH also holds the majority of shares in the Marc O'Polo Group.

“Although there are certainly overlaps in the product portfolios of the parties involved, the merger will not result in market shares in any of the affected markets that would suggest a hindrance to effective competition,” said Andreas Mundt, president of the Federal Cartel Office. “The Federal Cartel Office was therefore able to approve the merger within one week of notification.”

The proceedings can now be concluded by the end of the month, as announced by insolvency administrator Stefan Denkhaus. In addition to the approval from the Federal Cartel Office, the fulfilment of further closing conditions was also mentioned last week. Denkhaus was confident that these requirements would be met. The future of Closed's foreign subsidiaries is still under negotiation.

Holzer will take over the management of the company as CEO and co-shareholder. Holzer was Maximilian Böck's predecessor as CEO of Marc O'Polo and is now a member of the company's supervisory board. During his career, he also managed the clothing company Tom Tailor. He will be supported by the existing management team, including head of product Gordon Giers and chief sales officer (CSO) Til Nadler.

Closed GmbH filed for insolvency on August 5. The step had become necessary “due to excessive debt and the associated financing costs,” it was said at the time. However, the operating business was “fundamentally profitable”.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

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