In an attempt to expand its portfolio the giant, US-based fashion accessories company Fossil agreed to purchase Skagen Denmark and some of its global partners for approximately USD$225 million (AUD$219 million) in cash and 150,000 Fossil shares, but the deal has yet to be finalised.
Nils Rasmussen, managing director of Jarass, Skagen Denmark’s Australian and New Zealand distributor said, “As I understand it, the legal documents are being finalised now and when completed Fossil will engage with Skagen to anaylse what’s best for the brand around the world, which could include different solutions for different markets.”
On return from Baselworld last week, and after meetings with Skagen management, Rasmussen explained, “Skagen has certainly made recommendations [about future territorial management] to Fossil based on their experience in the different markets about short, medium and long-term strategies. And that process will only begin sometime in April so, at the moment, the most likely outcome is that we’ll remain distributors of Skagen until at least December.”
Rasmussen said that since BaselWorld, he has already started planning for this Christmas. “It’s business as usual,” he said.
“We have worked with Skagen Denmark for 15 years and taken the brand from unknown to a major industry player.
“We have advised all stockists of the development and committed to keep them up to date as relevant information becomes available to ensure that they are well informed. Right now our focus is the Winter 2012 strategy that we’ve been working on for the last four months and are about to launch,” Rasmussen told Jeweller in January.
Braun Watches
In the meantime, Rasmussen negotiated Australasian distribution rights to German watch brand Braun, which was launched this week at the Brisbane Jewellery fair.
“We were really happy with the response for Braun at the Brisbane fair. We certainly have some work to do in spreading the story far and wide and we’ll be using a lot of online technology to get the message out nationally,” Rasmussen said.
He explained that part of the marketing strategy was a ‘register your interest’ campaign and “there certainly has been strong interest in Braun with many of the stores we’re dealing with for Skagen,” he added.
Rasmussen explained that the entire 28 model collection Braun would be launched in Australia and New Zealand, except for the radio controlled watches and clocks which only work in the northern hemisphere.
“It’s a tight range and very suitable to an independent retailer,” Rasmussen said.