Samsonite

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Samsonite International SA

logo
legal form Société anonyme
ISIN LU0633102719
founding 1910
Seat Luxembourg
management Ramesh Dungarmal Tainwala ( CEO )
Number of employees 12,700
sales $ 2.811 billion
Branch Baggage production
Website www.samsonite.com
As of December 31, 2016

Samsonite TSA lock

Samsonite is an international manufacturer of luggage such as suitcases and travel bags .

In 2007 the originally US company was taken over by CVC Capital Partners and the company headquarters relocated to Luxembourg under the name Samsonite International SA . The North American headquarters have been located in Mansfield, Massachusetts since 2005 . CVC floated Samsonite on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2011 . Since then, Samsonite has greatly expanded its own portfolio through numerous company acquisitions .

history

The company founded in Denver , Colorado in 1910 by Jesse Shwayder (1882–1970), the son of a Polish - Jewish immigrant family , was initially called the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company and produced heavy wooden chests. Around 1916 a piece of luggage was baptized with the name Samson, in which the biblical story of the strong Samson was used as an association. In 1931 the company was renamed Shwayder Brothers, Inc. again , as Shwayder's four brothers (Benjamin, Mark, Maurice and Sol Shwayder), the first two in 1912, joined the company.

In 1941, the Shwayder Brothers, Inc. manufactured a luggage-like item of luggage, the Samsonite Streamlite , for the first time . In 1960 Jesse Shwayder officially handed over the reins to his son, King David Shwayder, but kept an active role in the company. Gradually, the term Samsonite became a brand, and so in 1965 the company name was changed to Samsonite Inc. In 1967, Samsonite manufactured the first polypropylene suitcase and in 1974 the first suitcase on wheels.

In the 1970s, the company expanded into international markets and made the suitcase brand a world leader. The company now had 5,000 employees. From 1972 to 1987, a nephew of Jesse Shwayder, Irving Shwayder (1922-2003), was the company chairman. In 1973 the American conglomerate Beatrice Foods Co. took over the company from the Shwayder family. The 1980s were difficult times for the company, accompanied by restructuring measures and layoffs . In 1986, Beatrice Foods sold the Samsonite company to the holding company Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. The latter founded a company called E-II in 1987 , which included Samsonite. E-II was formed in 1992 in the bankruptcy , although Samsonite record results had achieved. Samsonite eventually went into the newly formed Astrum International Corp. - with the major shareholders Apollo Management and Carl Icahn - based in Miami , which in 1993 bought the luggage manufacturer and competitor American Tourister . The corporate headquarters were relocated to Warren, Rhode Island , where American Tourister's headquarters were located. In 1995 Astrum split up and the independent Samsonite Corporation was created , based in Denver. From the mid-1990s onwards, numerous employees were made redundant, production sites closed, prices increased, new product lines created and the Asian market further developed. From 1992, the French entrepreneur François Pinault had acquired a stake in Samsonite through his then newly founded holding Artemis . In 2000 Artemis owned 30% of Samsonite. Pinault sold the investment in 2002.

As a result of the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 , the need for luggage dropped drastically worldwide. In 2002, Samsonite was discontinued from listing on NASDAQ and the company was threatened with bankruptcy. After lengthy negotiations, a consortium of three investment companies (Ares Management, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Bain Capital ) finally invested a total of 106 million US dollars in a recapitalization plan from May 2003 . The consortium eventually owned 56% of the voting shares. The Denver manufacturing facility closed in 2006, as did most of Samsonite's European factories. In July 2007, the Luxembourg financial investor CVC Capital Partners took over Samsonite from the private equity consortium with the help of a loan from the Royal Bank of Scotland for 1.7 billion US dollars. CVC enlarged and a. the network of its own Samsonite branches . The bank consequently held nearly 30% of Samsonite while CVC owned 54% of the shares. The head office of the case manufacturer has been in Luxembourg ever since . In 2005, the company's North American headquarters were relocated to Mansfield, Massachusetts, near Boston . In 2008 corporate debt was $ 1.3 billion.

In 2009, Samsonite issued a license for shoes ( Samsonite Footwear ) to the Italian manufacturer Zeis Excelsa , who has owned Bikkembergs since 2011 . Samsonite shoes were already available from the end of the 1990s (see section Black Label ). Samsonite ended the collaboration with Zeis Excelsa in December 2015.

The company's US retail division, Samsonite Company Stores LLC , entered credit protection protection in 2009 and closed half of Samsonite's 173 stores in the US as part of a restructuring .

In June 2011, Samsonite went to Hong Kong to the stock market . The company generated proceeds of 1.25 billion US dollars (882 million euros) from the IPO under poor market conditions . Samsonite was previously listed on the New York Stock Exchange until 2002 after its share price fell below one US dollar as a result of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks . After the IPO in 2011, CVC's stake in Samsonite sank to “a little less than 30 percent”, the Royal Bank of Scotland's stake to “just under 16 percent”, four percent belonged to the British Samsonite CEO since 2009, Tim Parker. The latter made $ 65 million in proceeds from the sale of part of its stake in Samsonite. In 2011, the mid-priced Samsonsite RED collection with bags and backpacks for a younger target group was launched - initially in Asia, and since 2016 also in Germany .

In July 2012, Samsonite bought the American sports bag manufacturer High Sierra for $ 110 million. In August 2012, Samsonite took over the traditional American suitcase manufacturer Hartmann for 35 million dollars. Within two years, 25 Hartmann stores were opened in Asia and a flagship store in Manhattan; the company had not previously had any boutiques. In March 2014, Samsonite bought the Paris luggage manufacturer Lipault for an estimated 20 million euros. In May 2014, Samsonite acquired Speck Products , a manufacturer of protective cases for electronic devices, from VMG Partners for $ 85 million. In June 2014, Samsonite announced the acquisition of the outdoor equipment supplier Gregory Mountain Products from its owner Black Diamond Equipment for $ 85 million. In September 2014, Samsonite appointed the Indian Ramesh Tainwala, a Samsonite manager since 2011, as CEO and thus the successor to Parker, who moved to the board of directors. In March 2016, Samsonite announced that it would buy out its competitor in the luxury segment, Tumi , for $ 1.8 billion on August 1, 2016. Samsonite closed the 2016 financial year with record sales of $ 2.8 billion. In April 2017, Samsonite announced it would buy out Denver -based luggage online retailer Ebags for $ 105 million.

Samsonite Black Label

1999 was in Milan -based European subsidiary Samsonite SpA , the high-priced premium collection Samsonite Black Label with luggage, clothing ( "Travel Wear") and shoes for each men and women launched . Initially intended for the Italian market, the brand was expanded worldwide in the following years. Samsonite initially appointed British fashion designer Neil Barrett, a former Prada designer, as creative director for Black Label men's fashion and replaced him a year later with Italian Gigi Vezzola, who also looked after women's fashion. The Samsonite clothing was partly equipped with practical details for travelers. The former Hogan design director Alberta Serantoni was appointed for the shoe division . From 2006, a cooperation with the British designer Alexander McQueen was offered for luggage. A Black Label online shop was started in 2007. In 2008 a luggage cooperation began with the Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf. Black Label had its own flagship stores , including a. in London , Berlin, Milan and San Francisco . Shops were closed until the end of the 2000s because the target audience did not identify the Samsonite brand as designer luggage. The clothing line has been discontinued. Samsonite has been using the Black Label brand for higher-priced luggage in its own portfolio since 2012 and is again operating its own shops in Asia.

Brands

Own brands

  • Samsonite, Samsonite Black Label and Samsonite RED
  • American Tourister (bought in 1993)
  • Tumi (bought in 2016)
  • Hartmann (bought in 2012)
  • Lipault (bought in 2014)
  • Gregory (bought in 2014)
  • Bacon (bought in 2014)
  • Saturn (low price line, replaced by American Tourister in 2005)
  • Trunk & Co. (youth line, discontinued in 2005)
  • Lark (bought in 1984, discontinued in 2002)

License brands (selection)

  • Lacoste (bags and small leather goods licensed from 2001 to 2011)
  • Reebok (sports bags)
  • Timberland (luggage and bags under license since 2005)
  • Y-3 by Adidas (bags and accessories under license since 2009)

Web links

Commons : Samsonite  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. a b Samsonite: Annual Report 2016 , accessed July 22, 2017
  2. Happy campers build Jewish identity at Shwayder , denverpost.com, August 7, 2010
  3. Notable Names Database: Jesse Shwayder , nndb.com, accessed July 3, 2011
  4. ^ Astrum International to Divide Its Samsonite and Culligan Units , nytimes.com, April 25, 1995
  5. Samsonite Company Stores Announces Plan to Realign Retail Store Portfolio ( Memento of the original from August 10, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , samsonitecompanystore.com, September 2, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.samsonitecompanystores.com
  6. Stock exchange sends suitcase manufacturer Samsonite to the basement , reuters.com, June 16, 2011
  7. Suitcase giant earns billions in IPO , focus.de, June 10, 2011
  8. Weak stock market debut - Samsonite crashes ( memento of the original from June 19, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , capital.de, June 16, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.capital.de
  9. Samsonite packs suitcases , welt.de, January 16, 2002
  10. Samsonite must save itself ( Memento from June 29, 2011 in the Internet Archive ), ftd.de, June 26, 2011
  11. Samsonite RED: About us samsonite.de, accessed: April 18, 2017
  12. Samsonite buys US backpack brand High Sierra telegraph.co.uk, July 18, 2012
  13. Samsonite takes over luxury bag manufacturer handelsblatt.com, August 3, 2012
  14. Samsonite revives classic US luggage brand Hartmann with eye on luxury market fortune.com, October 16, 2014
  15. Luggage retailer Samsonite acquires French brand Lipault in deal worth € 20m thedrum.com, April 3, 2014
  16. Samsonit buys protective cover manufacturer Speck textilmitteilungen.de, September 3, 2014
  17. Samsonite enters market for protective mobile device cases with acquisition of US-based company Speck Products speckpoducts.com, May 29, 2014
  18. Samsonite takes Gregory in his luggage sport-fachhandel.com, June 19, 2014
  19. Samsonite: Good six months and a change of CEO jnc-net.de, September 8, 2014
  20. Suitcase company Samsonite buys US luxury retailer for billions reuters.com, March 4, 2016
  21. Case manufacturer has Tumi in his luggage wiwo.de, March 3, 2016
  22. Samsonite International SA: Announces 2016 Annual Results - Net Sales Hits New Record of US $ 2.8 Billion 4-traders-com, March 15, 2017
  23. Longtime Denver online retailer eBags agrees to sell itself to Samsonite denverpost.com, April 7, 2017
  24. Samsonite - If suitcases become clothes  ( page no longer available , search in web archivesInfo: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , textilwirtschaft.de, January 30, 2001@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.textilwirtschaft.de  
  25. Front Row; At Samsonite, Neil Barrett has found a niche by designing travel wear of such gadgety inventiveness that 007 would love it. , nytimes.com, January 18, 2000
  26. Samsonite issues license for Blacklabel , textilwirtschaft.de, February 5, 2002
  27. Alexander McQueen Is One Sick Luggage Designer nymag.com, November 15, 2006
  28. In the luggage: The Samsonite Black Label by Viktor & Rolf , brigitte.de, December 3, 2008