On Friday 14th October the Thom Europe group, parent company of French jewellery retailers Histoire d'Or and TrésOr, announced it is about to buy  German jewellery chain Oro Vivo from the Christian Bernard group.

Thom Europe has also confirmed it has finalised the acquisition of Italian jewellery and watches retailer Stroili, whose purchase was first announced in mid-July.

"These operations will allow Thom Europe to make the consolidation of Europe's three largest accessible jewellery markets a reality, while now they are still fragmented," stated the group in a press release.

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According to the latter, in 2015 Oro Vivo generated a revenue of €18 million, and is currently operating 38 stores.

The new entity resulting from the acquisitions is expected to produce a pro forma revenue exceeding €620 million, from over 1,000 stores belonging to six retail brands (Histoire d'Or, Marc Orian, TrésOr, Stroili Oro, Franco Gioielli and Oro Vivo) and from the e-commerce sites for France, Italy, Germany and Belgium. The new group will employ a staff of more than 5,000.

"Having consolidated the French market, the group has turned into the natural consolidator of the whole of Europe. Alongside France, Italy and Germany are Europe's most significant markets for accessible jewellery. We are delighted to welcome Stroili and Oro Vivo within Thom Europe, and to have become market leaders in Europe," stated Romain Peninque, Thom Europe's General Manager, who is cited in the press release.

As of 30th June, Thom Europe claimed a retail revenue of €213 millions for the previous 12 months. The group's majority shareholder is Bridgepoint, together with the Apax Partners and Altamir investment funds, with Qualium Investissement and the management team.