Ted Baker, 31, Is Finally Determined To Develop The Chinese Market.

The British fashion brand Ted Baker, which once ignored the Asian market, has finally made some new moves.

In April 10th, Ted Baker announced the establishment of a joint venture with Shanghai langshang Trading Limited (langshang trade) to help brands expand in the Greater China market.

As part of the agreement, Lang Shang trade will pfer the right of the new joint venture to the investment carrier wholly owned by Langhao Holdings Limited (hereinafter referred to as Langhao Holdings) and Singapore Infra-Apparel group.

The new joint venture is expected to be approved by the Chinese regulatory authority by August 31st.

Langshang trade is a wholly owned subsidiary of Langhao holdings.

Langhao holdings was founded in 1996. It owns the American fashion brand GANT. It co operated with the British fashion brand Thomas Pink of LVMH group from 2015 to 2017, and began to cooperate with the American luxury fashion brand Bebe in 2015.

According to the agreement, Ted Baker will subscribe to 50% of the wholly owned subsidiary of Ted Baker in Hongkong at the price of 50 million yuan, inject 30 million yuan of net cash into the new joint venture, and the paction related expenses are expected to reach 6 million 500 thousand pounds (about 57 million 140 thousand yuan).

Ted Baker said in its announcement that the new joint venture will operate Ted Baker in direct outlets, franchised stores and online stores in mainland China, Hongkong and Macao, and expects the company to break even in the financial year of 2021/22.

At present, Ted Baker has 5 direct outlets and 1 factory outlet stores (Outlet Store) in mainland China, and has 3 outlets in Hongkong. In its announcement, the brand said it hoped that the new joint venture could open more shops in the Greater China region, expand the franchise network and further expand the channels on the line.

Compared with the international fashion brands that began to plough up the Chinese market many years ago, Ted Baker has been moving slowly for 31 years. The focus has always been on the European and North American markets, so that the company's performance in the Chinese market has not been ideal.

2017/18 accounted for only 4.8% of retail sales in Asia, the Middle East and Australia, accounting for 21 million 300 thousand pounds (about 187 million yuan).

2018/19 fiscal year, including other markets in Asia, the Middle East and Australia, fell to 20 million 300 thousand pounds (about 178 million yuan) in the company's retail revenue, accounting for 4.4% of total retail revenue.

McKinsey's global fashion report released in late 2018 predicted that China will become the world's largest fashion market in 2019, and that Chinese consumers are a powerful motor to drive the development of the global fashion industry.

Obviously, Ted Baker can no longer ignore the growing Chinese market.

According to the announcement of Ted Baker, it is easy to find that brand expansion ambitions are not only in the first tier cities.

"The new joint venture will combine the experience of Lang Shang trade with the Greater China market, especially with regard to the expansion of the two or three tier cities in the mainland of China, and the knowledge of Ted Baker in sales, training and brand building to promote the long-term development and expansion of the Ted Baker brand in the region."

"Langhao holdings and Infra-Apparel group can bring their local experience to the brand.

We believe that China has the potential to become the largest international market for Ted Baker. "

Ted Baker acting chief executive Lindsay Page said.