Vivarte, owned since 2014 by a group led by investment funds Alcentra, Babson, Oaktree and GLG Partners, confirmed it had sold its Spanish shoes brand Merkal to London-based private investment firm OpCapita.

The transaction forms part of Vivarte’s ongoing restructuring programme and is in line with previous sales of its Kookai and Pataugas brands. Value of the transaction should be between 50 million euros and 70 million euros, and covers the 220 shoe shops Merkal owns in Spain, and also the Fosco network, integrated in the Merkal business last year.

The company has decided to restructure its business, following up the impacts in falling profits and sales from fierce competition from larger clothing retail chains such as H&M, Kiabi and Primark. Besides the sale of Kookai and Pataugas brands, the group might be considering selling Besson, a chain of low-priced shoe stores. André can also be on the pipeline for a sale. While the restructuring process of the group is on, several options are being considered.