{"text":[[{"start":13.3,"text":"Chinese companies are buying up a growing number of overseas consumer brands as intense domestic competition spills over into international sectors relatively removed from geopolitical tensions."}],[{"start":24.65,"text":"Just months after Chinese apparel conglomerate Anta acquired a 29 per cent stake in Puma for €1.5bn, ultra fast-fashion retailer Shein this week struck a deal to acquire “sustainable” US clothing brand Everlane for a reported $100mn."}],[{"start":42.9,"text":"Everlane is being sold by L Catterton, an LVMH-backed private equity firm that has held a majority stake in the San Francisco-based basics retailer since 2020. "}],[{"start":53.9,"text":"Nestlé last month confirmed that it had sold its majority stake in US chain Blue Bottle Coffee to Centurium Capital, controlling shareholder of cut-price Luckin Coffee, which has tens of thousands of stores in China."}],[{"start":67.55,"text":"Chinese companies’ appetite for outbound M&A has increased after years of unrelenting competition and deflationary pressures at home."}],[{"start":75.95,"text":"There were $2.4bn of outbound consumer goods deals in the first quarter of this year, almost all in Europe and North America. Last year’s $6.8bn total was the highest since 2018, according to data from consultancy Rhodium Group."}],[{"start":92.45,"text":"“Consumer goods is one of the few sectors that remains relatively open to Chinese investment in advanced economies,” said Armand Meyer, an analyst at Rhodium."}],[{"start":102.10000000000001,"text":"“Chinese firms with maturing domestic brands are looking to expand their international footprint at a time when the domestic economy is slowing,” he added. “Acquiring established foreign brands is a faster and more effective path than building from scratch.”"}],[{"start":118.4,"text":"Anta’s stake in Puma is the latest in a longer-term strategy of overseas purchases, including a 2019 buyout of Amer Sports, the owner of Hoka, Salomon and Arc’teryx before Amer was relisted in New York in 2024. Anta has also bought German clothing business Jack Wolfskin, and owns the rights to Fila in mainland China."}],[{"start":140.65,"text":"“Anta is a poster boy for this kind of strategy,” said Josh Perlman, head of Greater China at Authentic Brands Group. Authentic Brands is in the process of relaunching Reebok in China, as well as US luxury brand Guess, which this year closed all its stores in China."}],[{"start":156.70000000000002,"text":"China’s overall outbound investment was $27bn last year, the highest since 2020, driven in part by mining assets in emerging economies. Its vast EV industry is also expanding globally."}],[{"start":170.20000000000002,"text":"However, that figure is dwarfed by the $200bn-plus of outbound M&A in 2016, shortly before trade tensions erupted in President Donald Trump’s first term and continued to escalate over the ensuing decade. "}],[{"start":184.4,"text":"Last week, Trump called on Xi Jinping to “open up” China on the first presidential visit to Beijing in a decade, flanked by a host of business leaders including Tesla chief Elon Musk and Citigroup’s Jane Fraser."}],[{"start":199.45000000000002,"text":"Chinese brands from Zara competitor Urban Revivo to Mixue, a bubble tea chain with more stores than McDonald’s, almost all of them in China, have sought to expand in the US."}],[{"start":210.4,"text":"While consumer goods are typically less sensitive than many other sectors, there has been intense scrutiny in Europe, where the EU and France have launched investigations into Shein’s sales of childlike sex dolls, weapons such as knuckle dusters and other illegal objects through its third-party marketplace. JD.com’s bid for Ceconomy, a German electronics retailer, has been delayed by regulatory review."}],[{"start":233.3,"text":"Everlane is known for its sustainable products and says it prioritises “fewer inputs and cleaner outputs in our processes”. "}],[{"start":240.65,"text":"Everlane chief executive Alfred Chang said the brand would remain independent after its acquisition by Shein and stay “true to our longstanding brand values, sustainability commitments and exceptional quality”. The Shein deal could accelerate Everlane’s progress and give it “greater reach”, he added."}],[{"start":257.9,"text":"Authentic Brands’ Perlman said that the conditions in China, from industrial supply chains to the country’s knowledge base, were creating “monsters”. "}],[{"start":266.45,"text":"“It’s not just apparel brands, it could be a car brand, it could be a milk tea brand . . . there’s going to be a lot of concepts coming out of China that could be global,” he said."}],[{"start":284.3,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1779514513_5825.mp3"}