Shandong Ruyi Group (山東如意控股集團) has started preparing an initial public offering (IPO) for The Lycra Co, months after acquiring the maker of the elastic material used in jeans and yoga pants, people familiar with the matter said.
The Chinese group is working with Goldman Sachs Group Inc as it explores the potential deal, which could raise about US$500 million, the people said.
It aims to sell shares in Lycra as soon as this year and is considering the US as a listing venue, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Shandong Ruyi completed the purchase of Lycra from Koch Industries Inc in January, more than 15 months after the deal was announced.
Bloomberg News reported that regulatory delays hampered the US$2 billion cross-border acquisition, which also included brands Coolmax fibers and Thermolite insulation.
Shandong Ruyi chief strategy officer Kelvin Ho (何卓賢) in February said that the group was planning an IPO for the Lycra unit within three years.
Deliberations for the planned IPO are at an early stage, and details such as fundraising size and timing could change, the people said.
Shandong Ruyi could select an additional bank to join the deal, one of the people said.
IPO activity in the US is starting to heat up.
New listings led by Pinterest Inc have raised US$5.7 billion this month alone, more than double the amount a year earlier, data compiled by Bloomberg showed.
The haul is expected to rise even more with a coming share sale from ride-sharing giant Uber Technologies Inc, which is targeting to raise about US$10 billion, Bloomberg News has reported.
A representative for Shandong Ruyi said that the company is considering an IPO for Lycra, although it has not confirmed the listing venue, fundraising size or financial adviser.
A representative for Goldman Sachs declined to comment.
Shandong Ruyi, which has ambitions of becoming the LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE of China, is pursuing the Lycra listing after a spate of overseas acquisitions of marquee fashion brands, including British trench coat maker Aquascutum and France’s SMCP SA, whose labels include Sandro, Maje and Claudie Pierlot.
The company is focusing on integrating existing brands and easing its dealmaking pace in the short to medium term, chairman Qiu Yafu (邱亞夫) said in an interview in November last year.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last