Appointment of Middle East Distributor
04 September 2007
Hot Tuna (International) PLC (AIM:HTT), a lifestyle apparel brand with authentic surf heritage, is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Sourcerite International Inc. (“Sourcerite”), a leading Middle Eastern distributor. Sourcerite has been delivered a test order in June 2007, all of which has already been sold, and the total agreement spans a period of three years.
Under the terms of the agreement Hot Tuna will supply several lines from its global ranges to Sourcerite, which will be sold through a number of stores throughout the Middle East, including stores owned by Sourcerite themselves. The agreement is for a significant quantity of merchandise, and will make use of Sourcerite’s many routes to market across the area.
The agreement also involves Sourcerite opening a number of Hot Tuna stores in this region throughout the three year period. The first is expected to open in Autumn 2008, and will be a 2,000 sq. ft. store in Dubai, situated in a high profile and popular shopping mall. All of the costs of opening these stores will be assumed by Sourcerite and will provide Hot Tuna access to a geographical region in which it previously has had no exposure.
Niels Juul, CEO of Hot Tuna, commented: “I am extremely excited that we have negotiated such an attractive deal with Sourcerite; not only does it give us access to the Middle Eastern markets, where we have not been active in the past, but the opening of a Hot Tuna store in Dubai will provide significant exposure for the brand. We know that the brand has popularity in this region, and now we are in a position to build on this with a strong partner who is a well known operator in the Middle East. Sourcerite have been delighted by the sale of Hot Tuna product this summer in Dubai. This is a large market with many possibilities for Hot Tuna, and we look forward to exposing the brand to this area.”
For further information:
| Hot Tuna (International) PLC | |
| Ranjit Murugason, Executive Chairman | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7372 9378 |
| ranjit_murugason@hottunaplc.com | |
| Seymour Pierce Limited | |
| Mark Percy / Parimal Kumar | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7107 8000 |
| parimalkumar@seymourpierce.com | www.seymourpierce.com |
Media Enquiries:
| Abchurch | |
| Henry Harrison-Topham / Chris Lane | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7398 7700 |
| chris.lane@abchurch-group.com | www.abchurch-group.com |
Notes to Editors:
Hot Tuna International PLC (AIM:HTT) owns the rights to the Hot Tuna brand, a progenitor of global youth fashion, born in Australia with a heritage of authentic surf culture.
Hot Tuna is one of the world’s most iconic names in surf lifestyle and can trace its roots back to 1969 when it was founded by a surfer and his fashion designer wife. Though the label had not been actively marketed over for the last decade, it retained an organic cult status among core action sports enthusiasts.
In June 2005, Hot Tuna International PLC purchased the ‘Hot Tuna’ brand from Frontier International (Holdings) Pty Ltd, listed on AIM in September 2005, and has since started to aggressively market the brand and reinvigorate the business. The Company now owns all intellectual property rights to its name and related iconography, and has put in place key management drawn from the executive ranks of Von Dutch, Quiksilver, O’Neill and Ocean Pacific, among others.
Headquartered in the UK, Hot Tuna operates design, marketing and distribution hubs in the USA, Australia and the UK. In its core markets, Hot Tuna sells products, which are directly manufactured in facilities principally in China.
Hot Tuna offices are maintained in Sydney, Los Angeles and London. For more information, visit www.hottunaplc.com<< Back to press releases