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Case Study

Kipling (A): Monkey business - Kipling tries to conquer the world

By Benoit F. Leleux, Kurt Verweire and Miguel Meuleman

16 pages

March 2010

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Reference: IMD-3-2153

MAY 1991. Flying back from Venice, Paul Van de Velde thought back about the strange meeting he and Enrico Boldoni had earlier that day with a potential Italian investor. Enrico, an elegant forty something Italian, was the franchising manager for a major department store chain in Italy. He strongly believed in the Kipling brand, and after opening the first Italian Kipling shop in a mall near Rome, decided to switch into a higher gear – opening the next 25 stores! Enrico had found an investor willing to stake a great deal of money in the development of Kipling’s franchise concept in Italy. After a short presentation of the Kipling concept, the man confirmed his interest in investing in Kipling with a minor Italian twist; instead of becoming a Kipling franchisee, he wanted to take over the whole company and become the franchisor! He offered to pay €3.75 million for the company. Paul took a deep breath. Was this really what he was after when he entered the Italian market? Would he have to deal with this kind of issue when internationalizing Kipling? Did they really want to depend on this type of character for the future growth of the company? Was franchising the way to go?

Learning Objective

Building a brand
Globalizing a startup company
Professionalizing a creative startup
Modes of internationalization
Financing growth
Managing growth
Start-up teams

Keywords

Entrepreneurship, Growth Management, Marketing, Brand Building, Globalization, Professionalization, Financing Growth, Venture Capital, Private Equity, Fashion, General Management, Strategy

Settings

World/global, Belgium
1986 to 1991

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

Related material

Teaching note, Video

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This case study is part of a series

Kipling (A): Monkey business - Kipling tries to conquer the world
Kipling (B): An entrepreneur in stormy weather

This case study is part of a series

Kipling (A): Monkey business - Kipling tries to conquer the world
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