H&M Group has become an investor in the Indian company AltMat (Alternative Materials), which specialises in turning agricultural waste into textile products using a technology that combines technical and chemical processes. With this commitment, the Swedish group- owner of H&M, COS, Weekday and Arket- aims to bolster its sustainability credentials.
Shikha Shah, the founder of AltMat – AltMat
AltMat was founded in 2017 by Gujarati entrepreneur Shikha Shah. Its mission is to transform agricultural waste, such as hemp stalks, into textile resources, including yarns, fibres, and fabrics. The company uses technology that combines mechanical, chemical and enzymatic processes to produce Altag, a natural, industrial-grade fibre. The resulting materials can be used in home décor, clothing and accessories, or to produce paper.
Objective: advancing R&D
The company recently announced that it had raised funds from several investors. H&M Group’s investment joins those from Rainmatter by Zerodha, Turbostart, and Fashion for Good, AltMat announced. The funds will be used to strengthen the company’s relationships with farmers and to advance its research and development.
“This funding round proudly marks several firsts: H&M Group’s first-ever investment in next-generation innovation in India, and Rainmatter by Zerodha’s first investment in textile materials. The four investors represent the ideal combination of patient capital for sustainable deep-tech innovation, sector expertise, entrepreneurial strength and an understanding of the challenges of sustainable growth,” wrote the business on LinkedIn.
“H&M Group is very proud to announce its latest investment, its first in the textile sector in India: AltMat,” wrote Laura Coppen, investment director at H&M Group New Growth & Ventures. “AltMat is a very promising material that uses agricultural residues to make a fibre similar to linen and cotton, for fashion and the home.” This investment follows the Group’s renewal of its partnership with Circulose, a Swedish textile fibre recycling company, last June.
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French cosmetics group L’Oreal is to increase its stake in Swiss dermatology firm Galderma to 20% from about 10%, the Swiss firm said in a statement on Monday.
Galderma is a dermatology specialist – Reuters
L’Oreal is buying the stake for an undisclosed sum from a consortium led by Swedish private equity firm EQT, which includes Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and Auba Investment Pte. Ltd. The deal is due to close in the first quarter of 2026. As a result, Galderma is looking into replacing board members representing the consortium by two non-independent board candidates from L’Oreal at the company’s next annual general meeting in 2026, it said.
“Galderma continues to deliver impressive growth, strong innovation, and category leadership across its broad, science-based dermatology portfolio,” said Galderma’s CEO Flemming Ørnskov in a press release. “With strengthened commercial execution, continued platform and portfolio expansion, and an increasingly consumer-focused approach to innovation, we are rapidly scaling into a dermatology powerhouse. We are pleased with L’Oréal’s increased investment, which affirms our direction and the meaningful value creation we expect in the years ahead. As we move into 2026, we remain fully focused on our Integrated Dermatology Strategy and on serving our customers, consumers, and patients.”
The businesses also plan to explore additional scientific research projects of mutual interest with a shared focus on skincare and skin health, innovation, and long-term growth. Galderma, originally set up as a joint venture between Nestle and L’Oreal before the latter sold its 50% stake in 2014, listed an initial tranche of its stock in March 2024.
Under fire since his alliance with Shein, Frédéric Merlin, the young head of BHV whose rise has been meteoric, admits he “underestimated” the challenge posed by the Paris department store, but stands by his strategy, intended to “keep retail alive.”
Frédéric Merlin, president of Société des Grands Magasins (SGM) and owner of BHV, during a photo shoot in Paris, 22 October 2025. – (AFP – Thibaud MORITZ)
“I always try to be humble, because at 34, you don’t know everything,” the executive recently told AFP during an interview on the sixth floor of the Bazar de l’Hôtel de Ville.
It is here that Shein, the Asian e-commerce giant accused of unfair competition and environmental pollution, is due to open its first permanent shop on Wednesday, under an agreement with Société des Grands Magasins (SGM), the commercial property company founded in 2021 by Frédéric Merlin and his sister, Maryline.
Originally from the Lyon region and raised by a father who ran a small industrial piping business and a stay-at-home mother, the siblings’ fortune is estimated at €600 million, ranking them 233rd in France, according to Challenges.
A “friend” of former president Nicolas Sarkozy, Merlin benefited from the financial backing of businessman Jean-Paul Dufour, a shareholder alongside SGM with “a 42.5% stake in the majority of the group’s subsidiaries,” according to its latest social report published in August 2024, as noted by L’Express.
“Ocean liner”
The owner of the BHV business since 2023, SGM also operates a dozen shopping centres, as well as seven Galeries Lafayette stores in the provinces, five of which are set to host Shein.
In protest, several brands have announced they are leaving the Paris department store, already shunned by suppliers unhappy about a build-up of unpaid invoices, which Merlin says are linked to “tools” issues that are being resolved, and not to cash-flow problems.
Dropped by Banque des Territoires (an entity of Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations) for the acquisition of the BHV building, SGM has also been excluded from the Union du grand commerce de centre-ville (UCV), while the Galeries Lafayette group refuses to allow Shein to set up in stores bearing its name.
“Who would want to work with a pathological liar?” said Yann Rivoallan, president of the Fédération Française du Prêt-à-Porter Féminin, on RMC.
Merlin “is not collaborative”, Nicolas Bonnet-Oulaldj, the deputy mayor of Paris in charge of commerce, told AFP.
“He told everyone that he had the support of Anne Hidalgo regarding Shein, which is totally false.” More generally, Merlin didn’t realise he was taking on “an ocean liner”, according to the department store’s inter-union body.
“What I underestimated was all the political and media attention that comes with taking on this Paris monument right opposite City Hall,” admits Merlin, denouncing the “surrounding hypocrisy” in the face of Shein and its many consumers.
“Head of the family”
“We could have done better,” admits the man who says he has made BHV “profitable” and works “14 hours a day.”
Born in the Lyon suburb of Vénissieux, Merlin grew up in a family that gave him “self-confidence” and “entrepreneurial drive.” After a spell at law school, the young man obtained a BTS in property, having been drawn to the profession during a placement.
Armed with a “€15,000 student loan,” he and his sister founded, at the age of 20, a commercial property consultancy (IMEA) before launching another (ADI) in 2014, specialising in the redevelopment of commercial buildings.
The Merlins hired their father, who brought his “industrial rigour,” until his death in 2018, the year SGM was launched, turning around shopping centres that nobody wanted any more in towns such as Roubaix or Mulhouse.
“You had to have a lot of nerve,” recalls Fabrice Fubert, co-director of a commercial property consultancy, who notably suggested in 2021 that Merlin acquire seven Galeries Lafayette stores.
Not “from the establishment,” Merlin is “an audacious man who takes risks and shakes things up,” as when he brought in Pokémon or YouTuber Squeezie for pop-up shops at BHV, says Fabrice Fubert.
The father of a young boy, Merlin asserts his role as “head of the family,” putting himself on the front line to “protect” his sister and his mother, Dominique, SGM’s deputy managing director.
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Birks announced on Friday a 16.2% uptick in half-year sales to $93.1 million, on the back of the Canadian jeweller’s acquisition of European Boutique, and a strong retail performance.
Birks
The Montreal-based company also logged an increase in third-party branded timepieces across multiple brands for the 26 weeks ending September 27, in addition to gains in sales of Birks branded jewelry and third-party branded jewelry.
Meanwhile, comparable store sales rose 6.3%, attributable to strong sales in all product categories, particularly in third-party branded timepieces, but also in Birks branded jewelry and third-party branded jewelry, the company added.
In light of the strong sales performance, Birks narrowed its earnings loss during the six months to an operating loss of $0.2 million, compared to a reported operating loss of $0.3 million in the prior-year period.
“Our net sales, gross profit and comparable store sales for the first half of Fiscal 2026 are higher than the corresponding period in Fiscal 2025 due in part to the acquisition of the European business but also due to our strong retail performance, which speaks to the strength of our product offerings, both in terms of our Birks branded products and our third-party branded watches and jewelry,” said Niccolò Rossi di Montelera, executive chairman of the board and interim CEO.
“I would like to thank our teams for their dedication and hard work. The growth achieved in the first half of Fiscal 2026 is a testament of our commitment to our customers and I am grateful for the unwavering efforts of all our employees which contributed to these results and the successful integration of the European stores.”
In July, Birks acquired the luxury watch and jewellery business of European Boutique from its founders, the Sutkiewicz family, for a purchase price of $9 million.
Politics8 years ago