The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Mass market apparel player Metersbonwe will sell assets worth 448 million yuan ($68.84 million) to Bacchus Wine and Bairun Investment Holdings to raise capital and increase liquidity. The assets include a subsidiary and a fashion museum.
The once-popular fashion giant is struggling to stay relevant in a market dominated by fast-moving online players and has closed thousands of stores in recent years.
Last October, Metersbonwe forecasted it would lose 580 million yuan ($89 million) to 820 million yuan ($125 million) during its 2020 fiscal year. In 2019, the company’s net profits declined by 825 million yuan ($125.2 million). Since August 2015, it has seen its stock price fall 88.99 percent and its market cap contract to less than 3.4 billion yuan ($522 million), from a peak of nearly 40 billion yuan ($6.14 billion).
With consumers tightening their belts in China, the battle between global fast fashion brands and local high street giants has intensified.
Investors are bracing for a steep slowdown in luxury sales when luxury companies report their first quarter results, reflecting lacklustre Chinese demand.
The French beauty giant’s two latest deals are part of a wider M&A push by global players to capture a larger slice of the China market, targeting buzzy high-end brands that offer products with distinctive Chinese elements.
Post-Covid spend by US tourists in Europe has surged past 2019 levels. Chinese travellers, by contrast, have largely favoured domestic and regional destinations like Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan.