Vegas Europe, the French-based company that held the license for the Rusty surfwear brand around Europe, has gone into liquidation. The group was established in 2008 as a European subsidiary of Vegas Enterprises, an Australian company that secured all rights to the Rusty brand in 2007, after drawn-out legal disputes. Vegas Europe made a splash to kick-start Rusty's sales again after four years of absence from the European market, targeting a turnover of about €10 million in the short term, but its actual sales apparently failed to justify the expenses. Vegas Europe covered some of the largest European markets by itself, including France, the U.K., Germany and Spain, and entrusted others to independent distributors. Dane Ward, the former managing director of Insight Europe who was hired to head up Vegas Europe, left the company in October. Vegas Enterprises has dispatched one of its employees to Biarritz to manage the liquidation of Vegas Europe and arrange continued distribution for the Rusty brand around Europe.

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