Hugo Boss sells Russian business to wholesale partner Stockmann

(Reuters) - Hugo Boss has sold its Russian business to wholesale partner Stockmann for an undisclosed fee, the German fashion house said on Monday, joining the ranks of Western brands to exit the Russian market over the war in Ukraine.

The German fashion company suspended its retail business in Russia soon after Moscow invaded Ukraine in February 2022. It also paused its e-commerce activities in the Russian market and stopped advertising.

"We can confirm that our Russian subsidiary has been sold to Stockmann JSC – a company belonging to one of Hugo Boss's long-standing wholesale partners in the country," Hugo Boss said.

Neither party has disclosed financial terms of the deal, but Russia demands that foreign companies sell assets at discounts of at least 50%. Stockmann did not respond immediately to a request for comment.

Russian corporate filings showed that the deal closed on Aug. 2 and that Stockmann JSC now owns 100% of Hugo Boss Rus with a nominal value of 40 million roubles ($470,588).

Hugo Boss had come under pressure from organisations such as B4Ukraine for continuing to supply some goods to Russia. B4Ukraine is a coalition of civil society groups seeking to compel Western companies to sever ties with Russia.

"In terms of our wholesale business, we were fulfilling the contractual obligations to our partners," Hugo Boss said in April. "In this context, Hugo Boss is and has been complying with existing EU sanctions at all times."

Stockmann in Russia operates independently to its former Finnish owner, which sold its Russian business after Moscow's 2014 annexation of Crimea.

($1 = 85.0000 roubles)

(Reporting by Alexander Marrow in London and Linda Pasquini in Gdansk; Editing by David Goodman)