Newline, the Danish running apparel specialist, has taken over Carite Sport, another Danish firm that specializes in fitness clothing. Synergies are expected between the two operations in the production of their apparel in the Far East, as they use similar materials, as well as in product development and the distribution.
Jesper Dahl, who took over Newline seven years ago together with a partner and an investment company, wants to expand Carite's geographic penetration, which is now limited to Denmark, Norway and Germany, and make its clothing more fashionable. By pursuing these two strategies, Newline's sales have nearly doubled since its takeover, he said, declining to provide any sales figures for either company.
Newline's ranges are currently offered in about 1,500 running specialty shops in Europe and sold through buying groups such as Intersport and Sport 2000 in Germany. In the last few years, the network of retail clients has expanded from the Scandinavian countries and Germany to the Netherlands and Italy. Last year, Newline began to sell its products in Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Founded in 1961, Carite has been focusing on highly functional garments for gymnastics, a sport that is big in Denmark, but it also covers training and other sports. It has a special line of large sizes. Newline started 20 years later by introducing into running gear synthetic materials used for parachutes.
