Former board chief to bid with international consortium for Wolford

Wolford’s former supervisory board chief, Antonella Mei-Pochtler, has teamed up with an international retail consortium to bid for a majority stake in the loss-making luxury textiles maker, Austrian weekly Trend reported.

Wolford, known for its tights, bras and shirts, is in the midst of a restructuring after it slipped into the red more than a year ago. Around 50 investors have shown interest after its main shareholders announced their intention to sell, it said last month.

Mei-Pochtler, now managing director of the Boston Consulting Group in Austria, plans to bid with several family offices experienced in the U.S. and Asian retail markets, she was quoted as saying by Trend on Friday.

She would probably keep Wolford listed on the Vienna stock exchange if her consortium got the stake, said Mei-Pochtler, who resigned from the group’s supervisory board to participate in the bidding process last month.

Wolford said it expected clarity on its ownership structure by the end of the year.

Based in Bregenz, western Austria, the company reported a loss before interest and tax (EBIT) of 15.7 million euros ($18.8 million) for the year to April 30.

Wolford agreed an extension of its credit lines until the end of June next year and was granted a bridge loan of up to 10 million euros in July to cover its peak seasonal liquidity requirements.

The selling shareholders are WMP Familien-Privatstiftung, Sesam Privatstiftung and M.Erthal & Co. Beteiligungsgesellschaft which according to Trend represent the founding families’ stake. ($1 = 0.8344 euros) (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Keith Weir)