The Morellato group acquires the French retail chain Cleor for 50 million. And it pushes towards internationalization ♦ ︎
Morellato with the accent on the final “o”. Pronounced in French. Because the group led by Massimo Carraro is now also French. Or, if you prefer, it’s the Cleor retail chain that is a bit Italian.
In fact, Morellato announced the acquisition of Cleor, one of the leading French prêt-à-porter jewelery players. In short, the equivalent of Morellato in Italy. Cleor is a large company, with a turnover of 80 million euros in 2019 and 800 employees, of which 110 are located in the operational headquarters in Evreux, Paris. The chain of boutiques counts on 140 points of sale, within the most important shopping centers in the main French shopping areas, with a high level product and service offer.
In the financial transaction, Morellato was supported throughout the acquisition process by the advisor UniCredit, which also financed the acquisition. The total investment is close to 50 million euros. The Italian group’s objective is openly international expansion, which has already achieved the acquisition of the online company Kronoshop, Rome and the French wholesale company Mister Watch, Biarritz.
With this important operation, Morellato as an Italian leader becomes one of the leading European players in the watch / jewelery sector. The only one to present a complete integration from creation to production to distribution, right up to the consumer through a unique network of online and offline retailers. 195 Bluespirit and Joyé stores in Italy, 140 Cleor in France, a solid international distribution of its brands in 70 countries, over 2,000 employees. And above all the pride of representing the great tradition of Italian jewelry in the world. This project projects the turnover of our Group over 270 million euros, with a 2020 forecast close to 300 million euros, of which over 60% are realized on foreign markets
Massimo Carraro, President Morellato
Morellato Group defines itself as the most important jewelery and watch group in Europe and world leader in the sector of high-end watch straps, a sector that has been the basis of the industrial activities of the Padua-based company, which has over 1,300 employees in the world, of which about 750 in Italy. At Morellato Group, three operating companies based in strategic reference markets are based abroad: Hong Kong, Dubai and Lyon. Among the proprietary brands are Morellato, Sector No Limits, Philip Watch, Lucien Rochat, Chronostar, Bluespirit, La Petite Story and Oui & Me, among those licensed under Furla, Maserati and Trussardi, while Scuderia Ferrari, Cluse and Paul Hewitt as distribution.
The group’s distribution network now has 4,000 dealers in the world, as well as numerous corners in the most important department stores of the shopping capitals. In the meantime the headquarters has been moved to Milan, while maintaining the historic site of Padua.
