David Konckier, the main shareholder of Bogart Group, has finalized the acquisition of selective perfumery retailer Marionnaud Group through his personal company BEHN following an initial agreement announced on July 6.
The deal transfers control of the chain from Hong Kong-based conglomerate CK Hutchison, parent of the AS Watson retail group, after more than 20 years of ownership.
Marionnaud generates approximately EUR 650 million in annual revenue, employs nearly 4,200 people, and operates 687 stores across eight countries.
Shedding non-core European perfumery assets
For AS Watson and CK Hutchison, parting with Marionnaud trims an overseas selective perfumery commitment that has faced stiff competitive pressure and rising operating overheads across Western Europe. AS Watson originally bought the chain to gain quick scale in Continental Europe. Yet selective perfumery demands high staffing ratios, expensive prime real estate leases, and continuous capital outlays, conflicting with the leaner, high-turnover health and beauty drugstore model that drives the group’s core revenue.
European retail has delivered sluggish discretionary spending over consecutive quarters. AS Watson has increasingly concentrated its capital expenditure and store expansion programs on high-yield Asian retail circuits, where pharmacy and personal care sales generate faster inventory churn than prestige European fragrances.
Expanding retail network for Bogart brands
Bogart Beauty Retail operates around 450 perfumeries and drugstores across Europe and the Middle East, including the April Beauty and DI fascias in France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and Israel, HC Parfumerie and Gottman in Germany, and Fann in Slovakia. Adding Marionnaud’s 687 doors effectively gives Konckier influence over more than 1,100 specialty beauty doors in European high streets and shopping centres.
The immediate operational challenge sits in network rationalization and inventory integration. Bogart’s own retail division saw its revenue fall 7.1 per cent to EUR 93.1 million in the first half of 2026, pressured by slow discretionary consumer demand and active store closures in France, Belgium, and Germany. Marionnaud must absorb Konckier’s proprietary fragrance and cosmetics lines without cannibalizing existing third-party luxury supplier arrangements that anchor its prestige counter business.
Restructuring precedes deal completion
The takeover follows an initial purchase agreement announced on July 6 between Konckier’s holding entity and CK Hutchison. The sale process unfolded while Bogart was reporting first-half 2026 revenue of EUR 114.7 million, down 7.4 per cent at current exchange rates and 5.3 per cent lower on a like-for-like basis.
Bogart’s separate perfumes and cosmetics manufacturing unit produced modest like-for-like sales growth of 0.4 per cent to EUR 21.6 million over the same six-month window. Management relies on fresh wholesale placements and shelf-space additions to turn that metric higher.
Attention now turns to how rapidly Konckier integrates Bogart’s manufactured fragrance brands into Marionnaud’s 687 stores, and whether CK Hutchison deploys the divestment proceeds into expanding AS Watson’s Asian drugstore network.
