MANSFIELD – No. 1 luggage maker Samsonite Corp. is looking to spend as much as $400 million on acquisitions in a drive to add brands and expand into new regions, CEO Marcello Bottoli told Bloomberg News.
The company, which last month was acquired by CVC Capital Partners Ltd. (READ MORE), recently has purchased luggage companies in Chile, Russia and Turkey. It also has signed joint ventures in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, to help it reach emerging markets, and is opening about 100 company or franchise stores per year.
Though best known for durability, Samsonite also has been branching out into the luxury market, beginning with its acquisition two years ago of the Black Label brand. Its suitcases now include offerings from designers such as Alexander McQueen. “We wanted to build the luxury segment to generate growth in its own right and also to generate interest for the rest of the business,” Bottoli said yesterday in Milan, where the company was presenting a new collection of weekend bags from the Black Label range.
“I am looking for brands that would be a credit to our business,” or would help to “fill in” the company’s retail and distribution operations, the CEO told Bloomberg News. Samsonite could turn to credit markets to fund acquisitions of as much as “several hundred million dollars,” Bottoli added.
Samsonite was honored this week by Massachusetts Alliance for Economic Development with a “Team Massachusetts” Gold Award for its economic impact in the region. (READ MORE) For all of 2007, the luggage maker is predicting sales will rise 10 percent compared with last year to $1.2 billion, 5 to 7 percent of which will be from luxury products, though debt from its buyout last month may keep the company from showing a profit.
Samsonite Corp. operates about 700 stores around the world, about half of them through franchise agreements. Its Black Label collection is available at 57 of those outlets. The company moved its North American marketing, sales and operations office to Mansfield from Warren, R.I., in 2005. For further information, visit www.samsonite.com.
