Reporter | Huang Shan
Edit | Lou Shuqin
Just entered 2022, another overseas apparel company of Shandong Ruyi Holdings entered the liquidation process.
On 2 January 2022, Hong Kong TRINITY LIMITED issued a statement stating that the Supreme Court of Bermuda had appointed FTI Consulting (Hong Kong) and R&H Services Limited as joint clearing houses for Lippon Holdings on 10 December 2021, and that an investigative committee on the company had been formed.
Hong Kong Lippon Holdings has a number of high-end men's wear brands such as Gieves & Hawkes, Cerruti 1881, Kent & Curwen. The original parent company of Libang Holdings is Chinese textile giant Shandong Ruyi Technology Co., Ltd., which acquired a majority stake in Libang Holdings in 2018 to become its holding parent company.
Libbon Holdings announced that the Joint Clearing Investigation Committee is assessing the group's financial position and considering opportunities for possible restructuring of the group.
Following the winding-up order issued by the Supreme Court of Bermuda on 13 August 2021, the full powers of the Board of Directors of Lippon Holdings ceased. Qiu Yafu, Chairman of Shandong Ruyi, is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Libang Holdings.
Since April 1, 2021, the listing of Libon Holdings on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange has been suspended. Unable to repay the US$150 million loan, Standard Chartered Filed with the Bermuda Supreme Court in December 2020 to liquidate Libband Holdings.
According to a March 2021 document by Libang Group, "in order to achieve a satisfactory result for both parties", In the previous three months, Libang Holdings has been "responding positively" and maintaining communication with Standard Chartered Bank.
At the same time, in order to "protect the interests of Lippon Holdings employees, companies, other bondholders and investors", Libang Holdings submitted an application for the appointment of a liquidator to the Bermuda Supreme Court in March 2021 to protect the company from bankruptcy.
As Libang Holdings entered the liquidation process, the British newspaper The Times disclosed in September last year that its British menswear brand Gieves & Hawkes was facing bankruptcy liquidation and was seeking outside buyers. The media quoted sources as reporting that British chain retail giant Marks & Spencer is thinking about how to incorporate Gieves & Hawkes into its own business. Clothing industry entrepreneur Toucher Suleyman may also be a potential buyer.
Cerruti 1881, another high-end menswear brand owned by Libang Group, also has an uncertain future. Since Cerruti's former chief creative director left in 2019, the brand has faded from public view.
The above-mentioned Times report highlighted that the complex shareholding structure of Libang Holdings and the changes in liquidators have made the sale of its brand assets more difficult.
Shandong Ruyi has been aggressively acquiring overseas for many years, and in the past two years, it has fallen into a debt crisis, and its high liquidity debt has made the company unable to pay its debts many times in the past two years. Itself is in deep trouble, Shandong Ruyi also has no time to take care of the overseas brand assets acquired by it, and many overseas brands have been implicated and entered bankruptcy protection procedures, or their operations have stagnated.
British high-end menswear brand Aquascutum, which was previously acquired by Shandong Ruyi, almost withdrew from the British market after the new crown epidemic in 2020. YAG Shidan has a history of more than 170 years, but its only uk-based store has completely closed its doors after the epidemic lockdown, and now the only way to buy is Chinese online e-commerce.