Chinese fashion company Lanvin Group is set to list on the New York Stock Exchange via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC), in a deal valuing the business at up to US$1.9 billion.
Besides its namesake label, Shanghai-based Lanvin Group, formerly known as Fosun Fashion Group, also manages Italian luxury shoemaker Sergio Rossi, Austrian skin wear label Wolford, US womenswear brand St John Knits, and high-end Italian menswear label Caruso.
With the global luxury goods market expected to be worth around US$430 billion* by 2025 – and Chinese luxury consumption set to account for nearly half of that – Lanvin Group said it sees itself as “well-positioned to capture the enormous growth potential driven by flourishing demand for luxury goods globally”.
The SPAC, Primavera Capital Acquisition Corporation, is an affiliate of global investment firm Primavera Capital Group, which manages an asset portfolio valued at more than $17 billion.
Joann Cheng, chairman and CEO of Lanvin Group, said the listing will help the company pursue growth across Europe, North America and Asia.
“We plan to accelerate the growth of our portfolio via both organic development and disciplined acquisitions, building a global portfolio of iconic luxury fashion brands that appeal to a broad customer base.”
Besides organic growth, the company will use some of the funds raised from the listing to expand its brand portfolio.
Lanvin Group operates in more than 80 countries with some 1200 points of sale – including more than 300 stores – and 3600 employees.
About half of Lanvin’s sales come from the Europe, Middle East and African market. The company sees its greatest opportunities to expand its sales in Europe and the untapped potential of Asia and North America where it believes its brands are at an inflection point. Greater China accounted for 14 per cent of the group’s global revenue last year, with North America contributing 33 per cent (15 per cent excluding St John Knits).
The company acquired the Lanvin brand in 2018. Last year, the brand’s worldwide sales grew by 103 per cent, with revenue in Greater China up 122 per cent and in North America by 298 per cent. Online sales soared 407 per cent compared with 2020 and were 14 times the rate of 2019.
In a statement, Lanvin Group said that while the group’s investment focus remains on high-end brands it also plans to launch an incubator project this year focused on minority investments in fast-growing companies with strengths in creativity, digitalisation, along with sustainable and intelligent supply chains.
In advance of the listing, Lanvin has built an alliance of investors in the company spanning fashion and technology. Those shareholders – who will retain their holdings after the listing – include Fosun International, Japanese trading conglomerate Itochu Corporation, mall operator K11, listed footwear maker Stella International, Chinese e-commerce enabler Baozun, data company Activation Group, and textile maker Neo-Concept Group.
Post-listing these shareholders will hold about 65 per cent of the company’s stock. Lanvin will receive up to $544 million in cash.
Max Chen, chairman, CEO & CFO of PCAC, and a partner at Primavera, said the company sees Lanvin Group as a unique global business “with a rich heritage, an entrepreneurial management team, and a differentiated strategy to build a luxury powerhouse for a new generation of consumers, especially benefiting from surging luxury consumption in Asia”.
- Source: Bain-Altagamma Luxury Goods Worldwide Market Study (Fall 2021-20th).
