New buyer helps Gas Jeans avoid bankruptcy
Grotto, the Italian company behind Veneto-based denim brand Gas Jeans, has secured a buyer in the form of investment firm Milano 1984, local media have reported.
As a result of the acquisition, now approved by Vicenza authorities, Gas will bypass bankruptcy and 140 jobs will be saved, reports said.
The €17.5 million (around $18.4 million) deal involved Milano 1984 obtaining Grotto’s property assets, including its Chiuppano headquarters, as well as subsidiaries Gas Realience, Laurentes and Esagon, the owner of Gas Jeans’ outlet stores.
Chief executive at Milano 1984, Andrea Citterio, stated that “an innovative business model” will help his company restore the brand’s fortunes, adding that Gas Jeans had previously “made the quality of Italian denim known throughout the world”.
Mr Citterio will be supported in his mission, which will see special priority given to the North American market, by Italian-Canadian entrepreneur Fortunato Bordin and Mr Bordin’s son Andrew.
Founded by Claudio Grotto in Chiuppano in 1984, Gas Jeans was family-owned and operated until Mr Citterio’s intervention. According to Italian media, no member of the Grotto family will be included in taking the brand forward.
Image: Gas Jeans via Instagram.
