Pelican Becomes a New Shareholder of Coalision

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Jun 28, 2011, 12:04 ET

MONTREAL, June 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- To pursue the international and retail development, Pelican, the fund headed by Bernard Mariette, has taken a 21% stake in Coalision which owns the Lole, Orage, and Paradox brands.

Bernard Mariette becomes, along with his fund Pelican, a 21% shareholder of Coalision after two and a half years of being at the head of the Canadian retail group.

The investment will enable Lole to continue its strong growth, particularly focused on retail and international.

"Pelican has not simply injected money in Coalision, but it also brings talented, passionate and engaged investors that share our sport and well-being and lifestyle focused culture," said Bernard Mariette. "I have learned through the years that the recipe for success is the magic between the shareholders, managers, employees, and the challenges to come. I am very lucky to have assembled the ingredients for this recipe at the heart of Coalision and Pelican."

Among the shareholders of Pelican, Olaf Guerrand, member of the Hermes family and administrator of the group in France and the United States joins the Coalision board of directors. He sees in the Lole brand a unique potential and one that rests on the strong well-being trend. "Ever since I have known Bernard I completely share his vision of the evolution of the sports and well-being market, and I am convinced of the potential that Lole has."

The majority owners of Coalision, Kilmer, as well as the founders of Coalision, remain investors in the company: "Coalision is developing very fast and it is important to team up with the best possible partners," said Marie-Claude Boisvert, manager at Kilmer. "We believe in Lole, Bernard's leadership, and the team that is developing the Coalision brands. We are delighted to include new partners who are of the quality of the partners of Pelican."

About Coalision:

Created by the fusion of the words "coalition" and "collision," Coalision fully reflects the state of mind that reigns within the company: a strong coalition of individuals that results in clothing brands of Orage and Lole, which are distributed throughout a network of more than 2500 retailers in Canada, USA, Europe and Asia.

www.coalision.com

SOURCE Coalision