MF Brands Is Negotiating to Sell The Kooples to Groupe Verdoso

The Kooples could be headed for a new home.

MF Brands Group, which bought The Kooples in 2019, said it has entered into exclusive negotiations to sell the business to Groupe Verdoso.

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“This decision reflects MF Brands’ commitment to repositioning the brand to ensure ambitious growth while aligning with the group’s strategy of focusing on activities that resonate with its DNA, built around premium and global brand universes,” MF said. “Groupe Verdoso, with its proven expertise in transforming and supporting the growth of companies, represents an ideal partner to take over The Kooples brand and guide it into this new chapter of its journey.”

The deal is subject to “consultation with employee representative bodies.”

Verdoso is an industrial investment firm that was founded by Franck Ullmann in 1997 and has taken control of more than 30 companies and currently holds significant stakes in eight small and midsized French firms. The investor takes an “active role alongside management,” bringing in “teams of experts to support the transformation projects of the companies it acquires.”

That means that Anne-Laure Couplet, who was named as chief executive officer of The Kooples in June 2023, could soon be getting an extra set of eyes on the brand. Before her current role, Couplet served two-and-a-half years as CEO of Paule Ka and, before that, led the menswear brand Burton of London.

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