Hennes & Mauritz : French fashion group Vivarte sells off Chevignon brand

PARIS (Reuters) - French fashion company Vivarte, which has lately been disposing of assets to cut debt, said on Tuesday it had agreed to sell its Chevignon brand to the Royer company and businessmen Stephane Collaert and Thierry Le Guenic.

Chevignon had 2018 sales of around 24 million euros (21 million pounds), and employs around 180 staff, Vivarte said in a statement.

The group, which faces competition from larger clothing retail chains such as H&M, Kiabi and Primark, has been restructuring its business to improve its financial situation.

Vivarte sold its Kookai fashion brand, Pataugas shoes and Spanish shoes brand Merkal last year, and its Andre shoe brand earlier this year.

Vivendi expects the sale of the Chevignon brand to be finalised in the first quarter of 2019, pending regulatory approval.

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Mathieu Rosemain)