Xtep expands its sports brands portfolio with US$260 million takeover of K-Swiss, Palladium, Supra, PLDM and KR3W
- Xtep last week announced the US$260 million cash purchase of 100 per cent of E-Land Footwear, which owns such brands as K-Swiss, Palladium, Supra, PLDM and KR3W
- The takeover gives Xtep a broader product range to sell to new market segments and different subcultures
Xtep International Holdings, one of the three Fujian shoemakers listed on the Hong Kong exchange, is taking another step to assemble a high-end portfolio of global brands to broaden its product range, following its US$260 million takeover of E-Land Footwear USA Holdings.
The E-Land takeover not only allows Xtep to own the brands and their worldwide outlets outright, it also helps the Chinese company enter new markets with shoes, clothes and apparel items for different lifestyles and urban subculture around the world.
High-end brands are “what people in China want, with their new wealth,” Xtep’s founder and chief executive Ding Shui Po said. “It is the DNA, the skill” found in E-Land’s brand portfolio that makes the acquisition a good move, he added, describing his acquisitions as “just as high end” as Nike’s products.
Xtep, which is capitalised at about a quarter the size of its Fujian peer Anta Sports Products, is not the only company to be assembling a portfolio of global brands.