Munich - Employees at German fashion house Escada expressed relief on Friday after India's Mittal family agreed to buy the insolvent business.

Megha Mittal, the daughter of steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, was cheered as she introduced herself to Escada's workforce in the morning. The 33-year-old is seen as the driving force behind the takeover deal.

"It was a very emotional event," said the head of the workers' council, Ursula Dreyer. Employees shed tears of joy, she told the German Press Agency dpa. Escada was once one of the top names in women's fashion, but a slump in sales forced it to file for insolvency in August.

At present, it employs 2,200 people around the world, about a quarter of them at its headquarters in Aschheim near Munich.

Under the agreement, key parts of Escada's business, including production, staff and distribution, will be taken over by a Mittal family trust.

The sale, which still has to be approved by competition authorities, came after Mittal beat out competitors in a bidding contest. (dpa)