Bags / Shoes & Accessories

On the evening of May 26, Fanfan China, Li Ning's largest shareholder, announced that it would hold a special shareholders' meeting on June 15 to approve its acquisition of Clarks, a British footwear brand. Li Ning is the chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Feifan China. He and his brother Li Jin are the main shareholders.

"The transaction will create synergy between Clarks and the multi brand footwear and clothing business, and further expand the group's global market." The board of directors explained in the letter. Once the acquisition is completed, Li Ning will have another shoe and clothing brand with a volume of 10 billion yuan.

Since the announcement of the acquisition intention in 2020, Feifan China has basically completed the preparation for the acquisition of Clarks. After the acquisition, Clarks will become an indirect non wholly-owned subsidiary of Feifan China. The announcement introduces the details of Clarks brand, the main personnel appointments for the brand after the acquisition and the operation planning for the next stage.

The M & A case of Li Ning's "Clarks, a century old British brand" is coming to an end

This is the first time that Clarks, a British shoemaking family with a century old brand, has sold its controlling stake in the brand. Over the past two centuries, Clarks has become one of the most representative British shoe brands, bringing classic shoes such as desert boots and wallabee to countless consumers. Clarks is headquartered in the UK, and its products are sold to more than 100 countries and regions around the world. In 2004, Clarks set up a brand company in Shanghai to take charge of the Greater China region and the Korean market.

As of January 29, 2022, Clarks has 594 stores worldwide and employs about 6700 employees. In the past two years, Feifan China has been striving to expand its footwear and clothing business. In addition to incubating and operating the "LNG brand", it acquired bosilong in July 2020 and Amedeo Testoni, an Italian century old luxury brand, in early 2022. It has made frequent moves.

However, the existing three brands are small in scale. According to the financial report, its footwear and clothing business revenue in 2021 was only HK $851million, about RMB 730million. Clarks' volume is much larger. Its normal annual revenue is about 1.5 billion pounds, about 13billion yuan, and will be incorporated into the statements of Feifan China. At the cost of more than 50 million pounds, Li Ning controlled a global footwear and clothing brand with a value of 10 billion. Li Ning did not lose any money in this deal.

Since then, Feifan China has successively acquired three brands, namely, baoshilong, Tishi Tony and Clarks, within three years, which not only meets the needs of consumers in different fields such as sports and leisure, street fashion, light luxury and high-end luxury, but also further expands the group's share in China and overseas markets through acquisition.

Redeploy troops

The acquisition has not been fully completed, however, Li Ning has made personnel arrangements to manage Clarks. According to public information, Colin Li, executive director of Feifan China, has become the chairman of Clark group, and Li Qilin is also Li Ning's nephew. In March this year, professional manager Jonathan ram was appointed CEO.

Ram is very experienced in the field of shoes and clothing. He once served as the president of the global sportswear business of Hanesbrands (the parent company of champion), an American underwear and sportswear manufacturer. He led many brands under Hanesbrands and achieved the growth of sportswear business. "He brought the company important experience in the global market and a deep understanding of the shoe and clothing business." Li Qilin commented.

In addition, Victor Herrero, who brokered the deal, may also assume important responsibilities. It is reported that Feifan China has drawn up five measures to develop Clarks' business, including:

Improve cost and operational efficiency; Redefine customer classification and strengthen brand building; Review the distribution strategy; Reorganization of enterprise organization; Increase market share in Asia, especially in Greater China.

For Li Ning, the significance of Clarks is not only a ten billion level business, but also a real journey of global operation.