Tag Archives: Apparel & Accessories Retailer (NEC) (TRBC level 5)

Germany

Berlin venture fund founders raise with a second German SPAC | Instant News


(Fixed the clutter in the last paragraph)

BERLIN (Reuters) – Berlin’s early-stage venture fund founders are taking steps by launching a blank check acquisition company in Frankfurt that will seek to raise more money than they currently have under management.

However, the trio behind 468 Capital said they had the insight and connections to complete the second launch of a German-listed shell company that will seek to buy up to 4 billion euros ($ 4.8 billion) worth of tech firms.

“There are four more than 10 billion public companies in our zip code,” 468 Capital co-founder Ludwig Ensthaler told Reuters in an interview. We know all of them.

Ensthaler refers to Delivery Hero, now part of the German blue-chip stock index, fashion e-tailer Zalando, food box delivery company Hellofresh and used car platform AUTO1 – all listed in Frankfurt.

Germany’s leading listed tech company has common roots in the Berlin ecosystem that grew around the startup incubator Rocket Internet – that’s where two of Capital’s 468 founding partners came from.

Ensthaler previously worked at Global Founders Capital, a fund supported by Delivery Hero CEO Niklas Oestberg and Hellofresh’s Dominik Richter, while his partner Alexander Kudlich served on Rocket Internet’s board.

Together with Florian Leibert, who is based in the US and has a track record as a software entrepreneur, the partners launched 468 Capital in 2020. The fund manages $ 200 million and has made 27 early-stage investments, according to Pitchbook.

The special-purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, they sponsor – 468 SPAC 1 SE – announced its intention to float on Tuesday night and seeks to raise 300 million euros.

Such a shell company has two years after floating to reach a target and, Kudlich said, the 468 SPAC would probably aim to raise the same amount of money through private placements before finalizing the deal.

With up to 600 million euros to work on, an acquisition worth between 1 billion and 4 billion euros would be in a “sweet spot” that would ensure sufficient free buoys for the combined company of at least 10%, added Kudlich.

468 SPAC is second only to Lakestar SPAC I SE, which raised 275 million euros when it floated in Frankfurt in February with support from German venture capitalist Klaus Hommels.

Joh. Berenberg, Gossler & Co KG acted as the sole global coordinator for the transaction.

Reporting by Douglas Busvine; editing by Madeline Chambers, Larry King

.



image source

Fashion

UPDATE Fashion retailer Primark 1-AB Food stopped placing new orders in Myanmar | Instant News


(Adding details)

LONDON, March 31 (Reuters) – Primark Associated British Foods owner said the fashion retailer had stopped placing new production orders in Myanmar following a military coup last month.

“Primark has now stopped new orders in Myanmar,” said a spokesman for AB Foods.

The prime source of 21 production sites in Myanmar. That compares with 527 in China and 127 in India.

The retailer’s move follows Sweden’s H&M and Italy’s Benetton Group which stopped placing orders in Myanmar earlier this month. (Reporting by James Davey; editing by William James)

.



image source

Fashion

Mr. Price S.Africa receives approval for the acquisition of Power Fashion | Instant News


South African apparel and homewares retailer Mr Price, seen in Cape Town, South Africa, November 26, 2020. REUTERS / Mike Hutchings / File Photo

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South African budget retailer Price Group said on Tuesday it had received all approvals to acquire retailer Power Fashion in a deal likely to reach $ 105 million.

The low-cost clothing and household appliance retailer said the acquisition, which will expand its market share in budget retail, would take effect from April.

Price said earlier this month it would buy privately owned kitchen appliance company Yuppiechef to increase its online presence and premium offerings.

Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Edited by Kim Coghill

.



image source

Fashion

Factbox-Foreign fashion retailer in China | Instant News


(Reuters) – Fashion brands, including H&M, Nike and Adidas, have come under fire on Chinese social media for previous statements they made expressing concern over labor conditions in Xinjiang province.

FILE PHOTO: Workers install a lamp bearing the Nike logo outside the Wukesong Arena in Beijing, China August 28, 2019. REUTERS / Tingshu Wang

Internet users in China are also targeting the Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), a group promoting sustainable cotton production which said in October it was suspending its approval of cotton sourced from Xinjiang for the 2020-2021 season, citing human rights concerns.

BCI members include Nike, Adidas, H&M, and Fast Retailing Japan.

Here’s a breakdown of some of the businesses of foreign fashion companies in China:

Inditex

The Spanish firm’s annual report says it has 337 stores in mainland China – 141 of its flagship brand Zara, which opened its largest store in Asia in Beijing’s Wangfujing neighborhood last October. The company does not report sales by country.

This was sourced from 477 suppliers who run 2,318 factories in China, its website says.

The company has said that 100% of its cotton will be organic, recycled and supplied through BCI by 2025.

H&M

The Swedish Group has 505 stores in China.

China is H&M’s fourth largest market with sales of 9.75 billion Swedish crowns in the 12 months to November 2020.

China and Bangladesh are H&M’s biggest production markets for clothing, says the H&M website. The retailer owns or has contractual relationships with more than 1,300 factories in the country, according to data on its website.

H&M said its cotton would no longer be sourced from Xinjiang after BCI cut ties to the region in October 2020.

Nike

Nike said in its earnings statement that Greater China reported revenue growth of 51% to a total of $ 2.28 billion in the quarter to the end of February.

A statement on Nike’s website said that it did not source cotton from Xinjiang but that “traceability at the raw material level is an area of ​​continuing focus”.

Adidas

The German company said in its 2020 annual report that its 2020 net sales in China, excluding the Reebok brand, were 4.3 billion euros, out of a total of 18.4 billion.

The annual report says 15% of Adidas footwear, 20% apparel and 36% of accessories and fixtures such as balls and bags are manufactured in China.

In its 2020 social impact report, the company said it had asked its suppliers to stop sourcing cotton yarn from Xinjiang, and supported BCI’s decision to cut ties with the region and said the group was its “main source”. cotton.

Fast Retail

Fast Retailing has about 800 Uniqlo stores in mainland China, roughly the same number as in its home market, Japan. It cites huge gains in mainland China in the fourth quarter of 2020.

The company reported revenues of 455.9 billion yen ($ 4.1 billion) in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan in the financial year ended August 31, 2020, 22% of total revenue.

More than half of its fabric factories and sewing plants are located in China, says the Fast Retailing website.

Fast Retailing said no Uniqlo products were produced in the Xinjiang region and no production partners were subcontracted to fabric or spinning mills in the region.

Muji

Muji Japan, which is owned by Ryohin Keikaku Co., operates 275 stores in mainland China, out of 975 worldwide.

The retailer was quoted as telling China The Global Times that they used Xinjiang cotton, earning praise from Chinese internet users, who praised the company’s “survival instinct”.

In a statement to Reuters, Ryohin Keikaku said it was concerned about reports of forced labor and discrimination in the region.

It said it had recently conducted due diligence for the Xinjiang plant, which has an indirect link through its supply chain, and also assigned an independent audit group to conduct an on-site audit.

“The results confirm that at this point, no significant problems have been identified except for problems which can be fixed by the farm or the spinning mill taking action on its own to make immediate repairs,” he said.

Reporting by Victoria Waldersee. Edited by Jane Merriman

.



image source

Fashion

Sales of fashion giant H&M recovered in March as stores reopened after the lockdown | Instant News


STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Sales at fashion group H&M fell slightly than expected in the three months to February and rose in the first half of March as pandemic curbs in some markets eased, allowing hundreds of stores to reopen.

FILE PHOTOS: Clients wait in front of H&M clothing store which reopened after the Swiss government relaxed some restrictions on COVID-19, as the spread of the coronavirus disease continues, on the Bahnhofstrasse shopping street in Zurich, Switzerland March 4, 2021 REUTERS / Arnd Wiegmann

The world’s second-largest clothing retailer said on Monday net sales fell 27% from a year earlier, or 21% in local currency terms, to 40.1 billion crowns ($ 4.72 billion).

Analysts on average expect a 30% drop in net sales for the period – Sweden’s group’s first fiscal quarter – according to Refinitiv SmartEstimate.

“Sales developments have been significantly affected by the COVID-19 situation, with extensive restrictions and at most 1,800 shops temporarily closed,” H&M said in a statement.

“Since early February, a number of markets have gradually allowed stores to reopen and at the end of the quarter about 1,300 stores remained temporarily closed,” he said, adding that online sales had continued to grow very well.

RBC analyst Richard Chamberlain, who has a “sector performance” rating on H&M shares, said the figure implied that online sales had provided a stronger-than-expected boost in February.

H&M said sales in the March 1-13 period rose 10% in local currencies as many countries, including Germany’s largest single market, started allowing some shops to reopen. However, about 900 of the roughly 5,000 H&M stores remain closed due to the pandemic lockdown on March 13.

Chamberlain said most stores should open by mid-April with new closings in Europe, H&M’s main market.

“As such, we see the potential for a strong sales recovery in the rest of the year, with the potential for a surprisingly high gross profit margin to rise, due to the weakening US dollar,” he said.

Market leader Inditex, owner of Zara, last week forecast a return to healthy sales as soon as the lockdown was lifted, as it reported a 70% drop in profit for the fiscal year to January. It is estimated that all the shops will open in mid-April.

H&M, whose full December-February earnings report is due on March 31, braced for losses in the quarter after the pandemic cut 2020 gains by 88%.

H&M shares rose 3% in early trading, up 32% year over year.

Reporting by Anna Ringstrom; editing by Niklas Pollard, Kirsten Donovan

.



image source