Kontoor Brands, the owner of jeans brands Wrangler and Lee, wants to move its European headquarters from Belgium to Switzerland this summer. This move could cost more than a hundred Belgian jobs.
Relocation possible
The jeans giant wants to move its EMEA headquarters (responsible for Europe, the Middle East and Africa) to Switzerland this summer, several Belgian media report. Its management announced the plans to staff last Tuesday, news agency Belga confirms.
A number of supporting services (think of accounting, finances and IT) would remain in Antwerp, however. Still, 113 Belgian jobs in Antwerp and Sint-Niklaas are at stake, although the company wants to offer its employees “relocation possibilities” wherever possible.
Kontoor Brands was founded in 2019, when the VF Corporation (the company owning famous labels like Eastpak, Kipling, The North Face en Timberland) split off its jeans brands Lee and Wrangler to form a separate branch that trades on the New York Stock Exchange.
