The fashion group Esprit has run into financial difficulties. The company has filed applications for insolvency under self-administration at the Düsseldorf District Court for its parent company, Esprit Europe GmbH, and six other German subsidiaries. Esprit announced this in a statement on Wednesday. Business operations will continue until further notice. The approximately 1,500 affected employees in Germany were informed, it was said.
The aim is to restructure the European business, which is largely managed from Germany, and make it fit for the future, the company said. Discussions have already been held with an interested financial investor. The negotiations regarding the acquisition of the trademark rights for Europe are therefore at an advanced stage.
According to the announcement, the previous managing director Man Yi Yip will be leaving the company. The lawyers Christian Gerloff and Christian Stoffler are to take over the management and restructure the fashion group. Esprit has been suffering from falling sales for “some time now,” said Gerloff. Significant parts of the European business are affected by the insolvency. The Esprit subsidiaries in Belgium and Switzerland had already filed for bankruptcy in March 2024.
Esprit is active in around 40 countries worldwide and has its headquarters in Ratingen and Hong Kong. Germany is the most important market for the group. According to the company, there are 57 branches nationwide and 124 in Europe. Esprit Europe GmbH, which is based in Ratingen, is the parent company for Esprit in Germany, France, Belgium, Austria, the Scandinavian countries, Poland and Great Britain. Purchasing and sales are organized in various European subsidiaries and sub-subsidiaries.
The fashion group Esprit had already applied for protective shield proceedings for several German companies in 2020. At that time, around 50 branches in Germany were closed and around 1,100 jobs were cut.
