KLiNGEL shoe brand Vamos comes under the umbrella of the Weltbild D2C Group

The Weltbild D2C Group acquires the Vamos brand and strengthens the Orbisana world of health

12/20/2023 – The Weltbild D2C Group takes over the KLiNGEL brand Vamos as of January 31, 2024. The aim of this acquisition is to further expand the product range of the Weltbild brand Orbisana in the area of healthy shoes.  The acquisition underlines the increased commitment of the multi-channel provider Weltbild in the health segment. The Group had already acquired the barefoot shoe brand “Groundies” in July.

For KLiNGEL, this is another successful brand transaction in the ongoing self-administration proceedings. The transaction was unanimously approved by KLiNGEL’s creditors’ committee.

Vamos is the specialist for healthy shoes

The KLiNGEL Group’s Vamos brand is the brand and width specialist that offers its customers healthy shoes in various designs. The range includes comfortable shoes for men and women – tailored to the shape of each individual’s feet. The range also includes care products for shoes, bags, purses, belts and gloves. The brand has been part of the KLiNGEL Group for more than 35 years and is sold in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Austria.

Following a series of transactions, Vamos has now succeeded in selling another well-known brand to a retailer with a wide reach. “The sale of the KLiNGEL brands is progressing. This is a positive development. We are also in promising negotiations for other Group brands,” explained KLiNGEL managing director Cord Henrik Schmidt. Managing Director and PLUTA restructuring expert Marcus Katholing added, “The sale of individual brands is important and also an obligation for us to achieve the best possible results for the creditors. With this in mind, I am delighted that we have once again reached an agreement.”

Weltbild D2C Group expands its presence in the health sector

“For Weltbild D2C Group, a particular focus is on the health megatrend, in which we also want to expand further through acquisitions. The healthy footwear provider Vamos is an ideal fit for our Orbisana brand,” explains Christian Sailer, CEO of the Weltbild D2C Group. “Vamos customers can rest assured that the proven quality for which Vamos is known will continue to be the focus.”

The Weltbild D2C Group, which is wholly owned by the Düsseldorf-based Droege Group, is one of the largest multi-channel retailers of media and non-media products in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland) and a well-known book retail brand. With its brands Weltbild, Gärtner Pötschke, Orbisana, teNeues, tausendkind, Jokers, bücher.de, D2C Recommerce and others, it operates one of the leading direct-to-consumer (D2C) platforms in the German-speaking region. All brands have a strong customer focus and offer a shopping experience via online stores, direct marketing, own stores and social commerce. The themed worlds of the Weltbild range combine publishing products and a selected non-media range focusing on gifts, ideas and products from the categories Home & Living, Garden, Children’s World and Health.
In the health sector, the Group is represented by the health world Orbisana, which offers a large selection of health products and everyday items online and via mail order and operates around 20 medical supply stores in Germany.

Insolvency proceedings under self-administration since May 2023

K – Mail Order GmbH & Co. KG, the main company of the KLiNGEL Group based in Pforzheim, has been in self-administered insolvency proceedings since May 2023. The business operations of the multi-channel distance retailer will continue until the end of January 2024 as part of the proceedings. The company is being supported in the proceedings by the restructuring company PLUTA. The trustee is attorney Mr. Martin Mucha from the nationally active law firm GRUB BRUGGER.

About KLiNGEL Group

The KLiNGEL Group is a multi-channel distance retailer for best agers in Germany. The core competence of fashion is complemented by ranges of shoes, jewelry, home and health. The Group’s sales brands include KLiNGEL, WELLSANA, VAMOS and Diemer. The KLiNGEL Group also includes numerous subsidiaries in other European countries. More information at www.klingel-gruppe.de

About PLUTA

PLUTA helps companies in legally and economically difficult situations. Since its foundation in 1982, PLUTA has grown steadily and today employs around 500 people in Germany, Spain and Italy. More than 290 business people, business economists, lawyers, commercial lawyers, tax consultants, auditors, sworn accountants, economists, bankers, accountants, engineers and insolvency administration specialists, including many with multiple qualifications, provide practicable, economically viable solutions. PLUTA provides support in particular for the restructuring and continuation of companies in crisis or insolvency situations and, if required, also deploys restructuring experts to the company’s executive bodies. PLUTA is one of the top reorganization and restructuring firms, as evidenced by rankings and awards from INDat, JUVE, The Legal 500, Who’s Who Legal, brandeins and Focus. Further information can be found at www.pluta.net

About GRUB BRUGGER

GRUB BRUGGER has been a law firm specializing in insolvency, restructuring and commercial law for over 50 years, operating nationwide from its offices in Stuttgart, Munich, Frankfurt am Main and Freiburg im Breisgau with more than 50 professionals. In addition to insolvency administration, trusteeship and self-administration, GRUB BRUGGER advises companies in crisis as well as creditors. According to the JUVE Handbook of Commercial Law Firms 2022/2023, GRUB BRUGGER has been once again one of the leading law firms in insolvency/restructuring advice and insolvency administration/property administration. In the JUVE Handbook 2022/23, Grub Brugger was named “Law Firm of the Year 2022” for insolvency and restructuring. More at www.grub-brugger.de

About Weltbild D2C Group

The Weltbild D2C Group (approx. € 500 million revenue in 2022) with its brands Weltbild, teNeues, Kinderwelt tausendkind, Paul Valentine, Groundies, Gärtner Pötschke, Orbisana, Jokers, bücher.de, D2C digital and D2C ReCommerce is one of the largest multi-channel retailers in the field of media and non-media products in the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). The Weltbild brand acts as a multi-channel provider (catalog, online, stationary stores and social media) and enables shop-in-shop strategies for own brands as well as brands of cooperation partners with complementary product ranges. Weltbild creates themed worlds for its customers that combine publishing products and a selected non-media range. Weltbild has been awarded the seal “Voted Customer Service of the Year 2024” in the Mail Order category.

About Droege Group AG

The Droege Group (founded in 1988) is an independent investment and consulting firm, completely family-owned. The company acts as a specialist for tailor-made transformation programs with the aim of increasing company value. The Droege Group combines its family business structure and capital strength into a family equity business model. The Group invests equity in “special opportunities” with a focus on medium-sized companies and spin-offs as well as strategically in buy & build transactions. With the guiding principle “Implementation – by every trick in the book”, the group is one of the pioneers of implementation-oriented corporate development. The Droege Group’s entrepreneurial platforms are geared towards long-term megatrends. Enthusiasm for quality, innovation and speed determines the company’s development. The Droege Group has successfully positioned itself in the market both nationally and internationally and is operationally active with its entrepreneurial platforms in 30 countries.

Press contact:

relatio PR

Patrick Sutter / Vanessa Herzog

Phone: +49 89 210257 22

Mail: presse@relatio-pr.de

Weltbild D2C Group

Eva Großkinsky

Head of Corporate Communications

Weltbild GmbH & Co. KG

Phone: + 49 821 7004 5555

Mail: eva.grosskinsky@weltbild.com