Calida drives U.S. expansion by acquiring lingerie brand Cosabella

Switzerland's Calida Group, owner of French lingerie brand Aubade, announced on Thursday it has acquired family-owned lingerie company Cosabella for $80 million (€75.8 million), as it looks to gain a foothold in the United States.

The acquisition of Cosabella will allow the Swiss group to strengthen its core business after selling sportswear brand Millet Mountain while paving the way for its entry in the American market with its brands Calida and Aubade, as stated by the company.

Cosabella, founded in 1983 by an Italian couple living in the United States, achieves more than half of its sales online, a good strategic fit since the brand is focusing heavily on e-commerce.

The company, which employs a total of 50 people, generated revenues of $29 million in 2021, with an average sales growth of 22% over the past five years, as detailed by the Swiss group. 

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2022.

"Cosabella provides an ideal hub to launch our brands Calida and Aubade in the U.S. market," stated Timo Schmidt-Eisenhart, the group's CEO, in the press release. He also plans to strengthen the brand awareness of Cosabella in Europe.

The brand was created by Valeria Campello, who in the early 1980s decided to leave Italy to relocate to Miami.

After noticing how Italian products were very popular in America, she began importing products from Italy before launching her own Italian-made lingerie collection that caters to the modern American woman, as detailed in the brand's website.

The purchase of Cosabella represents the second acquisition deal made this year by Calida, which bought the German sustainable lingerie brand Erlich Textil in February.

The group, known in Switzerland for its Calida pajama brand, announced last year that it was seeking acquisitions in the lingerie sector in order to reorient its activities towards its core business after a major reorganization of its business.

After selling brands Oxbow and Eider, the group completed its pullback from the sportswear industry by selling Millet Mountain Group in early February to the grandson of the outdoor apparel brand's founder.

The Swiss group had said that it would use the earnings from that transaction to make acquisitions in the intimates sector.