Chinese Shoe Retailer To Acquire Stake In Italian Jeans Brand

Chinese shoes retailer Belle International announced plans to acquire a stake in Fashion Box SpA, parent company of the Italian jeans brand Replay.

The two parties will establish a joint venture to operate the Replay brand in Greater China. Full financial details of the deal were not released.

The Claudio Buziol family, who founded Fashion Box SpA and the Replay brand in 1978, will fully withdraw from the company via this deal. In 2010, the Buziol family already sold a 51% stake in Fashion Box SpA to Equibox Holding SpA. With the new transaction, the Buziol family will sell the remaining 49% stake to Belle International and Equibox Holding SpA.

Belle International and Equibox Holding SpA have made a three-year development plan for Fashion Box SpA. This development strategy, which aims to build a global brand, includes employee layoffs and sourcing new cooperating partners in America, Latin America, and Japan. At the same time, Fashion Box SpA will focus on Replay's European business again.

Apart from Replay, Fashion Box SpA also owns the children's clothing brand Replay & Sons and the high-end brand We Are Replay. The company has 3,000 sales sites and 200 retail stores around the world. In 2014, its revenue was about EUR204 million, of which 87% was from international markets.