A new company, Hein Gericke Europe, will be formed on February 1 and the brand will eventually be reintroduced into the UK.
The Liao Group has pledged that the company, which has collapsed twice in recent years, will be properly financed and will retain the same variety of leading brands.
Hein Gericke Europe will comprise 66 shops, with eight in Austria, two in Belgium, one in each of Luxembourg and Holland and 54 in Germany, said Mart Schiks, senior consultant with the Liao Group. The Liao Group was investing “more than £10m” in the venture.
Schiks revealed the group had wanted to buy the UK operation as well but had been beaten to it by J&S, who itself had tried to buy the UK operation of the German company before it went bust (full story in the imminent February issue of BDN).
“The UK we missed because everything went so fast,” said Schiks. “By the time we spoke to the receiver, the deal was done. We would like to have continued the UK operation because it is a very important market and Hein Gericke had been there for a long time and was well known for quality.
“We are not like the investors who bought it a couple of times and sold it to make a profit to sell it again. We want to make HG Europe a strong number one like it once was. It has great potential. It only needs a boost and it must be funded to get successful again.”
Schiks explained that it would take time to sort out the European operation but pledged: “Hein Gericke will be back in the UK sometime in the future.”
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