(BofFashion) Vestiaire Collective Unveils Rebrand

Vestiaire Collective Unveils Rebrand
The luxury resale site is undergoing a rebrand, including a new visual identity, website and logo, as the company faces growing competition for the $6 billion high-end consignment market.

PARIS, France — Vestiaire Collective is refreshing its image as the luxury resale site looks to grow sales in Europe and Asia.

The branding changes involve a new, black-and-white logo, that will feature on updated packaging. Vestiaire is also launching a campaign, produced with creative agency BETC Etoile Rouge, which promotes resale as a modern alternative for the luxury and sustainability-conscious consumer. It will roll out in Europe and Asia Pacific spanning television, print, digital and social media.

Vestiaire’s new look comes after a €58 million ($62 million) funding round last year, which the company is using to expand internationally. The past 18 months have seen the company enter Asia, open logistics hubs in France and Hong Kong. This month the company is opening a new head office in Paris, on the back of 100 new hires in 2018.

“It will allow us to speak to a wider audience,” said chief marketing officer and vice president for EMEA Ceanne Fernandes-Wong of using traditional forms of advertising — including black cabs in London and television in France — alongside digital. “Resale is not new, it’s not niche, and we want to bring that education that resale is chic and cool… and bring people who would otherwise say, ‘it’s luxury and not for me.’”

However, Vestiaire faces increased competition from other players in the luxury resale market, which is on track to hit $6 billion in global sales this year, according to Bain. Founded nine years ago, Vestiaire was one of the first to allow customers to re-sell luxury items while providing rigorous authenticity checks and curation. However, competitors have piled into the space in recent years, including ThredUp, Poshmark and Grailed. The biggest is TheRealReal, which opened its first permanent retail and consignment space in New York in November 2018, after hosting a pop-up a year earlier, and has raised $173 million funding.

“We want to extend the category in the right way,” said chief operating officer Olivier Marcheteau. “There is €250 billion worth of luxury product sold every year — we’ve probably only scratched that surface.”

>>> Cellenkos, Inc. announces FDA clearance of CK0801 Investigational NDA for Tr

Cellenkos, Inc. announces FDA clearance of CK0801 Investigational NDA for Treatment-Resistant Guillain-Barré Syndrome
Cellenkos, Inc., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, announced that the United States Food and Drug Administration has cleared its Investigational New Drug (IND) application to proceed with a phase I clinical trial of CK0801, allogeneic cord blood-derived regulatory T cells, in patients with treatment-resistant Guillain-Barré Syndrome (GBS). Cellenkos submitted its IND application on September 11, 2018 and received approval on October 11, 2018. The Phase I clinical trial of CK0801 will be led by Kazim Sheikh, MD, Professor and Director of the Neuromuscular Program at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center at Houston (UTHealth), Houston, Texas.

>>> UNH - Reports Q3 $3.41 v $3.30e, Rev $56.56B v $56.1Be

UNH - Reports Q3 $3.41 v $3.30e, Rev $56.56B v $56.1Be
- Raises FY18 $12.80 v $12.72e (prior FY18 $12.50-12.75)
- Guides FY18 FCF "to approach" $B (prior "to approach" $15.5B)

- UnitedHealth Groups net margin 5.6% v 4.9% y/y - Consolidated Op margin 8.1% v 8.1% y/y; UnitedHealthcare op margin 5.6% v 5.9% y/y
- Medical care ratio 81.0%, -40bps y/y
- Operating cost ratio 15.0%, +30bps y/y
- Total medical customers M v 48.8M q/q; Medicare Advantage M v 4.8M q/q; Medicaid M v 6.7M q/q; Medicare Part D stand-alone M v 4.7M q/q
- Optum Rev $25.4B v $22.9B y/y
- Optum Op margin 8.0% v 7.4% y/y

>>> Fonciere Lyonnaise / Colonial

Colonial buys Qatar stake at 69.58E on average vs yesterday's close at 59.40

Mostly acquired in Colonial shares (reserved capital increase)
Part of the acquisition by Colonial is done in cash at 73E (vs FLY FP NNAV at 85.7E in June 18)

Colonial engages not to buy FLY shares above 72.50E for the next 18 months (except for another 1% of FLY they can buy at any price)

After operation Colonial will hold 80.74% of SFL. Smells like delisting. If so, 73E would be the price.

>>> DIA investor Mikhail Fridman nears takeover with appointment in key position

DIA investor Mikhail Fridman nears takeover with appointment in key position

Spain-based supermarket chain Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentacion [BME:DIA] (Grupo DIA) investor the Russian private businessman Mikhail Fridman, is poised to a takeover with an appointment in a key position, El Confidencial reported. Fridman, who two weeks ago fetched a 29% stake in DIA through the investment vehicle Letterone Investment Holdings, has appointed Stephan Ducharme as acting chairman following the formal resignation of Ana Maria Llopis, according to the report.

DuCharme would also become first vice-chairman of the board and possibly a member of the strategy committee, a newly created advisory body expressly designed to review group decisions, analyze market challenges, define strategic lines and report to the board of directors, El Confidencial said.

The empowerment of 'Fridman's men' is a symptom that the takeover bid is getting closer, the unsourced report said.

DuCharme is the president of Russia's largest distribution group, X5 Retail Group, the online Spanish-language report noted.

A report in Expansion noted that DIA stock fell yesterday Monday (15 October) 42.2% to EUR 1.097, reducing the company’s market capitalisation by EUR 500m to EUR 682m. Earlier, a JPMorgan report had cut 20%, from EUR 2.1 to EUR 1.7 the company’s objective price, after predicting that its EBITDA will fall from EUR 568m in 2017 to EUR 489m this year, from a prior estimate of EUR 501m. DIA issued a profit warning.

DIA is working with Boston Consulting Group on a new strategic plan due this autumn, Expansion added.

A report in Cinco Dias that cited unspecified sources from DIA said that the strategic report will now be delayed.

>>> Altice French fibre operations has Mirova, Macquarie and KKR as frontrunners

Altice French fibre operations has Mirova, Macquarie and KKR as frontrunners

Investment funds Mirova from France, KKR [NYSE: KKR] from the US, and Australia’s Macquarie [ASX: MQG] are believed to be the frontrunners in the auction for the French fibre infrastructure of listed pan-European telecoms group Altice Europe [ATC:NA], French daily Les Echos reported.

The report, which did not reveal its source of information, said that other potential buyers include I Squared, Allianz [ETR: ALV], GIC, CDPQ, and Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers). The report noted that KKR already signed a deal with Altice regarding the group’s telecoms towers in France, acquiring 49.9% of SFR Tower Company earlier this year.

Altice is keen to retain the majority control of the business in an auction that could value the company at between EUR 2bn and EUR 3.8bn, a person in the know claimed. Another source said that the amount mentioned seemed “abnormally excessive". The report noted that initial figures amounted to between EUR 1.5bn and EUR 3bn.

The financial partnership is aimed at accelerating the deployment of the fibre infrastructure in France, as Altice vowed to the French government the installation of 5m sockets, including 2.6m in mediumly-populated areas within two years.

>>> What to look at today - 16th of October 2018

 Asian stocks traded mixed Tuesday, paring initial gains, as the dollar inched higher alongside Treasury yields. The yen retreated and U.S. equity index futures advanced.
Share indexes were little changed from Tokyo to Hong Kong to Sydney amid thin volumes. The dollar edged up from close to a two-week low ahead of a U.S. Treasury currency-manipulation report expected this week. Oil ticked higher amid tensions between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. over the disappearanceof a prominent journalist, while gold held gains.
US After Hours JELD -18%, ADBE +5%, JBHT +1% following earnings/guidance, SEND +14% on Twilio (TWLO -2.5%) acquisition news

Nikkei +1.18% Hang Seng -0.22% CSI -0.51% Shanghai -0.52% Shenzen -1.64%

Eur$ 1.1569 CNH 6.9231 CNY 6.9239 JPY 112.06 GBP 1.3148 CHF 0.9895 RUB 65.57 TRY 5.7993 WTI$ 71.75 -0.04%

S&P +0.33% Eurostoxx -0.09% FTSE -0.04% Dax +0.12% SMI +0.16%

Macro :
- Hedge Funds Seen Sticking to Ever-Risky Short Volatility Trades
- Salvini Says Tax Hikes in Italy Budget Only For Banks, Insurers
- OppenheimerFunds Cuts European Stock Exposure in Favor of U.S.

Keep an eye on :
- AMBEA SS : Ambea Acquires Aleris Care For SEK2.6b
- COL SM : Inmobiliaria Colonial to Raise Stake in Fonciere Lyonnaise
- CON SW : Conzzeta Nine Month Net Revenue CHF1.31 Bln
- DB1 GY : Deutsche Boerse to Cut 218 Jobs in Germany, Handelsblatt Says
- DRX LN : Drax to Buy U.K. Power Generation Portfolio for GBP702m in Cash
- ENG SM : Enagas Nine Month Net Income EU325.7 Mln Vs. EU375.7 Mln Y/Y
- FWB IM : Swisscom Is Said to Evaluate Tie-Up for Italian Unit Fastweb
- FER SM : Ferrovial Mulls Selling its Service Unit, Expansion Says
- FLY FP : Inmobiliaria Colonial to Raise Stake in Fonciere Lyonnaise
- FRE GY : Fresenius Sees First Sales From Own Humira Version in 2019: FAZ
- HLNG NO : Hoegh LNG, Egypt Agree to Use Floating Terminal as Tanker
- IVA FP : Inventiva: Last Patient Visit Completed for Lanifibranor Trial
- LHN SW : French Judges Seize Some Ex-Lafarge Execs Severance Pay: AFP
- LIN GY : Linde Says Proposed Combination With Praxair Submitted to FTC
- MBTN SW : Meyer Burger to Cut Staff, Move Some Operations to Asia
- NCCB SS : NCC Prelim 3Q Oper Loss SEK 1,108M
- ORA FP : Orange CEO sees window for French telecoms consolidation in 2019
- UG FP : Opel Says Less Than 9,200 Vehicles Involved in Announced Recall
- RYA LN : Ryanair: OmniServ Replaces Swissport as London Stansted Handler
- SLIGR NA : Sligro to Cut 200 Jobs at HQ Following Emte Sale, AD Reports
- TLX GY : Talanx Cuts 2018 Forecast on Expected Industrial Lines Losses
- TEF SM : Telefonica could exit Mexico; may face regulatory pushback, sources say
- TOM2 NA : TomTom telematics business should secure attractive multiple from US strategics - MergerMarket
- TOM2 NA : TomTom Boosts Full Year Revenue Forecast
- UBSG SW : UBS Suspends Sales of Leveraged ETN Focused on Small-Cap Stocks
- UNI SM : Unicaja in Talks to Cut at Least 10% Staff Over 3Y: Confidencial
- URW NA : Unibail to Sell Paris’s Ariane Tower Building for EU464.9m
- VLA FP : Valneva: Started Second Stage of Chikungunya Vaccine Ph 1 Study
- VOW3 GY : Regulators in Rush to Set New Auto Tech Standards, VW CEO Says
- ZOT SM : Zardoya Extends Declines as AlphaValue Joins Analysts Cutting PT