Vistula&Wólczanka still in pursuit of W.Kruk - and others

Clothing company Vistula&Wólczanka (V&W) is not planning to end its acquisition spree on purchasing jeweller W. Kruk and it announced further take over plans. Based on the example of French group Louis Vuitton it plans to develop and manage exclusive brands, but not only clothing and jewelery ones.

"I feel no threat from V&W. Brands, which I have in my portfolio, are much higher positioned than the offer of the company," said Jerzy Mazgaj, president and owner of the Paradise Group, which is franchise holder of, among others, Burberry, Ermenegildo Zegna and Emporio Armani.

Due to this, V&W is not likely to compete directly with him as, "We are only interested in domestic brands and for the time being we only want to develop in Poland as there is plenty to do here," said V&W president Rafał Bauer.

He claims that the merger would be beneficial for both companies and W. Kruk perfectly fits this strategy. "We have plenty in common. Our outlets are established in the same places, while clients of W. Kruk wear our suits. Together, we could negotiate much better terms of renting commercial space," said Bauer.

For the time being he did not provide the names of other brands with which V&W is interested in. Wojciech Kruk, the major shareholder of the jewelery company, still claims that his company is being subject to a hostile take over. (Parkiet, p. 8; Puls Biznesu, p. 13) M.M.