The Malta-based Hudson Group has been awarded the distribution of the Nike brand in Morocco. The contract with sportswear giants Nike was signed recently in Casablanca.

The Hudson Group is a retailer, distributor and service provider involved mainly in the sport and fashionwear sectors. In taking over the distribution of Nike in Morocco the Hudson Group together with its Algerian partners joined forces with Olympic medallist and businessman Hicham El Guerrouj.

The Hudson Group already has distribution management rights for Libya and Algeria for the Nike brand. The joint venture was also recently awarded distribution management rights for Converse, the urban fashion footwear brand, for the entire Maghreb region.

Mr El Guerrouj was a Nike sponsored athlete for a long number of years and still holds the ‘mile’ record which he set at the Rome Athletics Grand Prix in 1999 by finishing the race in three minutes and 43.13 seconds.

Karsten Koehler, business director of Nike Central and Eastern Europe described this partnership as “a unique combination of an all star team. Nike is proud to trust its distribution in Morocco to the Hudson Group which has proved to be serious and very successful in the distribution management of the Nike brand in North Africa.”

The Hudson Group is also a strategic partner of Nike in Italy with 12 Urban Jungle and two Urban Sports stores in Italy dedicated to showcasing Nike sportswear products. The Group recently opened its latest Urban Jungle store in Rome.

The Hudson Group’s head office is located in Mriehel and it has supporting offices in Italy, Libya and Algeria.

The Group’s vision is “to use Malta as a micro market to learn about a brand and then successfully develop the distribution of this brand on an international level with a particular focus on Africa”.

“We aim to become one of Africa’s most respected and sought after brand builders,” the Group says on its website.

“We believe that Africa offers some of the most exciting growth opportunities. It is our mission to use our brand building experience to expand into North Africa and across the continent. We are driven by a passion for quality and our belief that, despite often difficult and unconventional business environments, North Africa still presents exciting opportunities for some of the world’s leading companies,” it says.

The main companies forming the Hudson Group are Hudson Holdings Limited which is the parent company of the Group, Time International (Sport) Limited, Italian Operations Limited SRL, Sports Alliance Limited and Hudson International Company Limited.

Hudson Holdings Limited also undertakes the distribution of cosmetic brands in Malta and Libya. Time International (Sport) Limited handles the local sportswear activities of the Group and is the local representative for brands such as Nike, Converse, Timberland, Crocs, Oakley and Swatch. The company has also created and launched its own franchise stores under the Urban family, i.e. Urban Jungle, Urban Sports and Urban Culture.

Italian Operations Limited SRL, an Italian subsidiary, handles the Urban Jungle franchise in Italy through its offices in Naples and Sicily. Sports Alliance Limited handles the Group’s distribution management in Africa of sportswear products through the establishment of offices in Algeria and Libya. Hudson International Company Limited handles the Group’s fashion retail arm locally and in Africa through the representation of various fashion brands.

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