For SMCP and its creditors, the long-running economic and legal saga of recent years appears to be drawing to a close. The group, which owns the Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Fursac brands, announced on Thursday that it was putting up for sale up to 51.2% of its share capital, a process expected to take “several months” and which could enable it to “stabilise its shareholding structure.”

This is the expected outcome following the forced return, in August 2025, to a Luxembourg holding company of the 15.5% of SMCP’s capital that had been improperly transferred to a trust based in the British Virgin Islands by its Chinese shareholder, which defaulted in 2021.

It was confirmed in a separate press release by the court-appointed liquidator representing the holding company European Topsoho (ETS) and the administrators overseeing the process.

In 2017, at the time of its IPO, SMCP’s majority shareholder was the Chinese conglomerate Shandong Ruyi, via ETS, an investment vehicle registered in Luxembourg.

However, burdened with heavy debt, it defaulted and in 2021 lost most of its stake to its creditors, grouped within the Glas entity.

Before that, ETS had sold a stake of around 16% to the daughter of Shandong Ruyi’s founder, Chenran Qiu, held in the Dynamic Treasure Group (DTG) trust in the British Virgin Islands.

Having sought for several years to recover this stake and judging the transfer procedure irregular, Glas launched legal action in Europe and then in Asia, and ultimately prevailed.

Thus, in August, the 15.5% stake in SMCP was returned to ETS. And on 21 November, the Luxembourg District Court authorised its sale, SMCP stated in a press release. In addition to the shares returned in August, the sale concerns the 28% stake held by Glas, as well as the 8% stake held by ETS.

The remainder of the capital comprises 40.4% free float (i.e. the portion of shares freely traded on the stock exchange; the share price stood at €5.95 at 6:00pm on November 27), 7.7% held by the founders and employees, and 0.6% held as treasury shares.

A buyer of the 51.2% offered for sale would also hold 50.7% of the group’s voting rights, and would therefore effectively be in control.

SMCP says it “welcomes this project, which would enable it to stabilise its shareholding structure and focus on pursuing its development strategy”.

Should the sale represent “more than 30% of the company’s share capital, the purchaser of this block (acting alone or in concert) could be required to file a draft public tender offer for all SMCP shares”, the group said in its press release.

“At this stage, however, there is no certainty that this process will be successful and the final decision on disposal rests with the holders of the aforementioned stakes,” it added.

In 2024, the group, led by Isabelle Guichot, generated revenue of €1.212 billion, with a presence in 49 countries. Over the first nine months of its 2025 financial year, the group recorded a 2.8% increase in sales to €896 million, alongside improved profitability, a higher share of full-price sales in recent years, and a marked reduction in its debt burden. Its business, 65% of which is now generated outside France, is driven 88% by its flagship brands Sandro and Maje.

The stock market valuation of the ready-to-wear group, which has 1,651 points of sale worldwide, exceeded €450 million on Thursday evening. It remains to be seen who will come forward to acquire this leading name in French accessible luxury.

With AFP