Victorinox Completes Acquisition of Swiss Army Brands
By William George Shuster, Senior Editor -- JCK-Jewelers Circular Keystone, 11/1/2002
Victorinox AG has successfully acquired almost all of the outstanding shares of Swiss Army Brands Inc. (SABI), the Shelton, Conn., distributor of Swiss Army Brand watches, effective Aug. 26, the company announced.
As reported earlier by JCK, Sue Rechner—who led the successful U.S. relaunch of Swiss Army Brand watches and developed Victorinox Swiss Army Watch SA (VSA) into a going concern—is the new president of Swiss Army Brands, now a private company. She was named to the post by Victorinox AG on July 29. Rechner had been senior vice president, global watches for Swiss Army Brands. She continues as chief executive officer of VSA, the international marketer and distributor of Swiss Army and Victorinox watches and clocks.
Victorinox AG, based in Ibach, Switzerland, already owned 67% of SABI, which distributes Victorinox products, when it tendered its offer to shareholders on June 12 to acquire all outstanding shares not already held by Victorinox and its affiliates. When that offer ended Aug. 26, it had acquired 98.8% of those shares, a company spokesman told JCK.
