Samsonite Strengthens its Global Retail Presence with Acquisition of Travel Retail Specialist Rolling Luggage

HONG KONG, Feb. 17, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Samsonite International S.A. ("Samsonite" or the "Company") today announced that it has completed the acquisition of Rolling Luggage, one of the world's leading airport retailers of branded luggage and travel products for business, fashion, adventure and leisure travel, from the Rcapital owned Tie Rack Retail Group for a cash consideration of GBP 15.75 million. The acquisition is part of Samsonite's ongoing strategy to enhance and strengthen its global multi-brand retail platform, as well as gain share in the large and growing travel retail market.

"Rolling Luggage is an exciting new addition to Samsonite and is unlike any of our previous acquisitions," said Ramesh Tainwala, Chief Executive Officer of Samsonite. "It immediately allows us to expand our footprint in the travel retail sector, an area that we see great potential for further growth. With international tourist arrivals worldwide expected to almost double by 2030, reaching 1.8 billion[1], and international tourism sales growing by more than 12% a year since 2009[2], airport retail will continue to evolve as airports become shopping destinations in their own right."

Mr. Tainwala continued, "With the established retail and brand presence that Rolling Luggage has across some of the world's highest-traffic airports, we see this acquisition very much as a strategic opportunity to strengthen our multi-brand retail platform, increase visibility for Samsonite products among our target consumers and drive sales by offering better product assortment within an improved in-store experience."

Alex Willson, Managing Director of Rolling Luggage, said, "We are thrilled to be joining Samsonite. Their considerable experience in the travel luggage industry and our passion about travel are a perfect match. We will work together to continue to ensure that we provide our consumers with a diverse and compelling product offering."

Headquartered in the UK, Rolling Luggage operates 36 airport retail locations in the UK, Europe, and Asia Pacific, including prime retail locations in Heathrow, Sydney, Melbourne, Frankfurt and Hong Kong airports. Rolling Luggage offers world class products which combine functionality with style that travellers can trust. Historically part of the Tie Rack Retail Group, Rolling Luggage became a standalone business following completion of an internal restructuring in April 2014.

Rolling Luggage recorded net sales of GBP 26.7 million for the year ended January 31, 2015, an increase of 11.3% from GBP 24.0 million the previous year.

About Samsonite

Samsonite International S.A. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, the "Group") is the world's largest travel luggage company, with a heritage dating back more than 100 years. The Group is principally engaged in the design, manufacture, sourcing and distribution of luggage, business and computer bags, outdoor and casual bags, and travel accessories throughout the world, primarily under the Samsonite®, American Tourister®, Hartmann®, High Sierra®, Gregory®, Speck® and Lipault® brand names and other owned and licensed brand names. The Group's core brand, Samsonite, is one of the most well-known travel luggage brands in the world.

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[1] UNWTO
[2] http://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/Consumer-Business/gx-cb-global-powers-of-retailing.pdf