Talk about a misstep. Just five years after acquiring the globally known K-Swiss and Palladium shoe brands, Xtep International Holdings Ltd. (1368.HK) is preparing to dump the pair to stop the bleeding from what has turned out to be a self-destructive purchase.
Last Friday, the sports apparel maker issued a 100-plus page document detailing a complex series of transactions to divest the two brands, which it acquired in 2019 from Korean group E-Land. The company first announced its plan to sell the assets in May.
The sale is a bitter move for Xtep and shows how Chinese acquisitions of shaky global brands, with plans to reinvigorate them by bringing them to China, can sometimes backfire. Xtep bought K-Swiss and Palladium for $260 million and has racked up more than $100 million in losses from them since then. Last year alone, Xtep booked a loss of about $32 million from the two assets, and says it expects more of the same this year. Xtep blamed slumping consumer demand in China for the brands’ struggle, but that’s not their only challenge.