CIEL Textile, through its subsidiary Aquarelle, and the SOCOTA Group signed a strategic partnership for the creation of the largest woven fabric mill in the Indian Ocean region.
The 50-50 joint-venture agreement will see the emergence of a joint mill in Madagascar with a truly regional and qualitative offer, endowed with a strong production capacity.
The current COTONA site (SOCOTA Group), which adjoins the existing operations of CIEL Textile in Antsirabe, will be extended and the industrial equipment of the CFL (Aquarelle) fabric mill based in Solitude, Mauritius, gradually transferred.
With the mission to “improve fashion everyday”, CIEL Group offers a wide variety of products, services and innovative solutions to its clients around the world. Each year, 38M pcs of garments are created with passion by the 18,000 talents of CIEL Textile through its 18 production units across Mauritius, Madagascar, India and Bangladesh.
“This transaction reinforces the relevance of our regional strategy, leveraging on the complementary positioning of the two countries, Mauritius and Madagascar, to build a truly attractive supply zone. Thanks to this new partnership with one of the main regional textile players, combining over 90 years of expertise in woven fabric, we are giving a real boost to fabric production in the region and opening significant growth opportunities. We will be able to offer quality products, a short leadtime between fabric and clothing, with enhanced traceability. At the same time, we will continue to grow and develop our operations in Mauritius and Asia”, commented Eric Dorchies, CEO of CIEL Textile.
With 60 years of experience in the textile industry, first in Madagascar and then in Mauritius, the SOCOTA Group has integrated downstream towards the clothing industry in the early 2000s. It has quickly established itself as a one-stop shop for woven, offering a range of products covering all types of clothing. Proud of its Malagasy heritage, the group has also diversified into the agri-food and real estate sectors in Madagascar, Mauritius and France.
“This partnership between SOCOTA and CIEL Textile strengthens our two groups by pooling together our know-how in woven fabric. The creation of a major player in textile production in Antsirabe Madagascar on the COTONA site considerably reinforces the attractiveness of the country thanks to the upstream implementation of a competitive fabric offer accessible to all players in the clothing industry in Madagascar. We are convinced that this consolidation will allow Madagascar to seize new opportunities at a time when many retailers are looking for alternatives to their China or South-East Asia sourcing”, said Véronique Auger, CEO of the textile and clothing division of the SOCOTA Group.
This new strategic transaction at a time of a major global crisis confirms the good momentum of CIEL Textile, which operates 18 production sites in 4 different countries and reinforces its leadership position in the region. CIEL Textile has been established in Madagascar since 1989 with to date 6 factories including 3 located in Antsirabe where the group has invested in a cutting-edge industrial site which already employs more than 5,000 people. This new project will create new jobs and will be a real showcase of the group’s industrial know-how.
The SOCOTA Group remains, more than ever, engaged in its textile and clothing activities in order to contribute to strengthening a major and unique textile production pool in Antsirabe out of Africa. Despite the current health crisis, this agreement opens a new page in SOCOTA’s history in Madagascar.
It once again demonstrates the resilience and dynamics of the SOCOTA Group as well as its commitment to continue to serve its customers while contributing to the development of the communities of Vakinankaratra.