Viva close to picking up 51% in Clarks

British footwear brand Clarks is close to being acquired by Viva China Holdings Ltd, the major shareholder of Chinese sportswear group Li-Ning Co Ltd.

Viva said in an announcement that its extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday approved the Clarks deal and it expects to acquire up to 51 percent of the latter for 840 million yuan ($125 million).

Viva has already acquired century-old Italian leather footwear brand Amedeo Testoni earlier this year. It also acquired affordable luxury brand Bossini, which is listed in Hong Kong, in 2020. Li-Ning plans to expand Bossini's business into the Chinese mainland.

In China, Li-Ning competes with domestic rival Anta Sportswear Group that has also embarked on a strategy of owning multiple brands to boost sales. For its part, Viva has been actively expanding its portfolio of apparel and footwear brands.

These moves come amid sharp declines in sales of international sportswear brands, including Nike and Adidas.

Hu Chuncai, general manager of UI Sharing, a consulting firm based in Shanghai, said the multibrand strategy has produced strong results in recent years, going by Anta's revenue growth propelled by its acquired international brands in China such as Fila.

"Long-time international brands that have shown weak growth in customer numbers in their home market might emerge as the new darlings of Chinese consumers after a bit of rejuvenation," said Hu. "Chinese sportswear firms with strengths in digital technologies and logistic networks might be able to inject new energy into these established brands."

In 2021, Li-Ning's net profit increased 136 percent to 4.01 billion yuan on a revenue of 22.6 billion yuan, up 56 percent. For perspective, in the third quarter of 2021, Nike's global revenue grew a mere 5 percent year-on-year to $10.8 billion, but net profit dropped 3.7 percent year-on-year to $1.39 billion, with revenue in China also down 5.2 percent yearon-year to $2.1 billion.

According to Euromonitor International, the combined market share of Nike and Adidas in China has dropped to 40 percent in 2021 from 43 percent in 2020, while Anta's has risen to 16.2 percent, overtaking Adidas to No 2. Li-Ning boasts a market share of 8.2 percent.

Over the years, domestic sportswear brands have improved their capacity for innovation, design and marketing, and are more flexible and responsive to local consumers, said Hu.