On October 16, ANTA announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary signed a sale and purchase agreement with the shareholders of Maiya Apparel (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Maiya Apparel") on October 13 to acquire 75.13% of the equity interest in Maiya Apparel. Upon completion of the acquisition, Maiya apparel will become an indirect non-wholly-owned subsidiary of ANTA.
According to the announcement, Maiya clothing operates the women's sports brand MAIA ACTIVE, focusing on yoga clothing. ANTA believes that the acquisition complements the Group's women's business segment and strengthens the Group's ability to provide product lines that meet the needs of our customers, further strengthening the Group's brand portfolio.
Tianyan inspection data shows that Maiya has completed 6 rounds of financing before being acquired, the most recent round of financing was in December 2021, and the investor was Belle International.
Two friends established a yoga clothing brand and achieved 6 rounds of financing in seven years of establishment
COMPARED TO ANTA, MAIA ACTIVE IS RELATIVELY UNFAMILIAR TO MOST CONSUMERS. NANDU REPORTER INQUIRY DATA SHOWS THAT MAIA ACTIVE CO-FOUNDER AND CEO WANG JIAYIN ONCE BECAME A CATEGORY MANAGER FROM THE FIRST ASIAN BUYER AT THE NEW YORK HEADQUARTERS OF THE UNDERWEAR BRAND VICTORIA'S SECRET, AND WAS ALSO THE SECOND EMPLOYEE OF THE E-COMMERCE DEPARTMENT OF XIAOHONGSHU. Co-founder and design director Ou Yirou, graduated from Parsons School of Design in New York in 2008, joined the fashion brands Doo-ri and J Crew, served Hollywood stars, and served as the chief designer of products in China for Badgley Mischka, a top luxury brand in the United States.
The two good friends founded Maiya clothing in Shanghai in 2016, the main products are yoga sportswear, and the core products include "waist pants" and "cloud pants".
Nandu reporters interviewed and learned that MAIA ACTIVE adopts the DTC model (Direct To Consumer), without dealers and any operators. In its Tmall flagship store, yoga pants are priced at about 360 yuan to 500 yuan, while lululemon prices are concentrated at 830 yuan to 1160 yuan, the former is almost half of the latter.
AS OF OCTOBER 17, THE NUMBER OF FOLLOWERS OF MAIA ACTIVE TMALL AND DOUYIN FLAGSHIP STORES WAS 1.159 MILLION AND 292,000, RESPECTIVELY. At present, MAIA ACTIVE has 32 stores in the core business districts of first- and second-tier cities across the country, and there are still 5 to be opened. The MAIA ACTIVE brand will have sales of 500 million yuan in 2022.
Before being acquired by Anta, Maia Apparel completed a total of 6 rounds of financing, with investors including Sequoia China, China Imaging Capital, and China Innovation Capital.
Image from Tianyan Check
A single category creates a market "myth" Lululemon effect is significant
Although it does not have a long history, lululemon, founded in 1998, has taken the world by storm with a pair of yoga pants. Even in 2000, lululemon did not lay off workers, cancel factory orders, or significantly cut prices to deal with slow-moving products. When other sports giants were frustrated in 2021, the brand bucked the trend and achieved more than $6 billion in revenue, not only ranked 1128th in the "2022 Forbes Global 2000", but also surpassed Adidas in market capitalization, and ranked first with a revenue growth rate of 49%.
Relevant data show that in recent years, the scale of the mainland yoga market has continued to grow, and it is gradually becoming one of the fastest growing segments in the global sports industry. In 2022, the size of the yoga industry will remain at the level of 38.7 billion yuan, and the market size is expected to reach about 56.1 billion yuan by 2023.
According to Lululemon's latest report released earlier this year, its growth in the international market is mainly driven by the Chinese market. In the second quarter, lululemon's revenue in the Chinese market was US$277 million (approximately 2 billion yuan), an increase of 61% year-on-year. In the first half of this year, the Chinese market revenue reached US$527 million (about 3.8 billion yuan), a year-on-year increase of 69%, making it the fastest growing region in the world.
Calvin McDonald, CEO of lululemon, said in the earnings call: "In the Chinese market, our brand continues to be widely recognized, with revenue growth of 61%. Recently, for the third year in a row, we launched the 'Summer Challenge' campaign to celebrate National Fitness Day in August. ”
Adi, Nike, Li Ning have poured into the track Can Anta overtake in corners
The explosion of lululemon has triggered many brands to follow suit.
Nandu reporters noted that in January 2019, Nike has launched its first yoga series of clothing, and then launched the Infinalon series based on women's yoga clothing. In May, Nike also announced that it continued to increase its investment in women's business.
Adidas launched the FORMOTION women's sports series in early 2021, and launched a sports bra series for Asian women's body upgrades in February 2022.
In 2020, Danskin, a high-end women's sportswear brand under Li Ning Group, launched sports underwear, yoga pants, sports jackets and other products, and Qian Wei, executive director and co-CEO of Li Ning, has also publicly stated many times that it is necessary to strengthen women's series, especially women's fitness categories.
In order to enter the yoga wear market, FILA, a brand of Anta's casual trend, also launched the "Latte Girl" feature last year, focusing on "small man's waist" yoga pants.
Nandu reporters noted that Mia, co-founder and CEO of MAIA ACTIVE, revealed in an interview last year that "the average floor efficiency of offline stores is 8,000 (yuan), and the best store has a floor efficiency of more than 20,000 (yuan). The conversion rate from try-on to purchase is probably close to 40%. In the eyes of the industry, Anta's acquisition of Maiya clothing is based on the above reasons, and the fast-growing women's yoga clothing market is becoming a hot track.
Written by: Nandu reporter Wang Chenchen Tian Aili