Erke, the 10-year-old sports apparel and footwear brand of China Hongxing, has signed a deal with a Spanish company, Dicaltex, for the design of a European line of sports clothing and for its distribution in Spain and Portugal. The deal should help expand Erke’s sales in Europe by adapting the styles to local markets.
A German industry veteran, Frank Säger, has been trying to find European customers for Erke, which will still get most of this year’s projected revenues of about €400 million from the Chinese market. He has been selling it mostly in the Netherlands and Belgium since 2008. Working through agents, he started sales in Germany and Austria in 2009 and will introduce the brand in Switzerland this year.
Separately, Erke has signed a five-year agreement to be official supplier of the German Tennis Federation (DTB). Since 2008, it has sponsored several ATP tournaments in Shanghai, Guanzhou, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
Erke’s new Spanish partner, Dicaltex, is a company formed by the Borja family, which recently sold the balance of its Spanish rights to the Reebok brand to Adidas Group, and Oriol Rovira, a former partner of the Borjas in the local Reebok business. The Borjas and Rovira recently signed distribution and licensing deals for Spain with Speedo and Ellesse.
