Today, Leomil Group and Cortina Group announced a far-reaching co-operation between their companies. The new alliance stands for more than US $200 million in sales, making it a major player in European markets for shoes, fashion, logistics and licensed characters.

Leomil Group, formed 45 years ago, is a prominent supplier of branded shoes based on licensed characters in most European countries. In recent years, the group has developed a significant apparel and accessories business: Leomil Fashion. Cortina Group, founded in 1950, is one of Europe’s largest importers and distributors of shoes, with a strong position in private labels and with considerable production facilities in the Far East. In addition, Cortina Group includes FLA-Europe, a specialist provider of financial, logistical and administrative business services.

Dirk Vanderschueren, owner of Cortina Group explains the co-operation thus: “Cortina and Leomil complement each other perfectly. The new alliance uniquely brings together know-how in a wide area from production to distribution, from marketing to brands and from concept development to support services. The synergy is going to be huge.”

Albert Milhado, owner of Leomil Group adds: “By joining forces with us, Cortina can expand its operation to apparel and its knowledge of product development to the booming field of licensed characters. Leomil in turn can concentrate on core competences including marketing, franchising and concept development by transferring support services for finance, logistics and administration to FLA-Europe. It will make us more flexible and enable us to react more rapidly than ever to changes in markets and consumer preferences.”

Cortina CEO Eddy Dumarey concludes: “By entrusting all support services to us, both Cortina Group and Leomil Group can further concentrate on what they do best. For them, that means intimate co-operation and strongly focused exchanges of expertise. FLA-Europe is their ideal partner in a time when retail chains place ever higher demands on suppliers, particularly in the areas of logistics and servicing.”

All spokesmen stress the future-directed character of the alliance. Both the Cortina and Leomil names will remain unchanged in active use in European markets, and all key personnel in design, marketing, sales and management will be retained. Albert Milhado will take responsibility for licenses within both Leomil and Cortina.