Expansion to Chinese Market
Kolon Sport, an outdoor gear and clothing brand of Kolon Industries FnC, will establish a joint venture with ANTA, the largest sportswear maker in China, targeting the Chinese market in earnest. The two companies have agreed to build the joint venture as Kolon Sport’s strategy to expand the Chinese market has aligned with ANTA’s strategy seeking to diversify its brands.
The new joint venture will be established by three companies – Kolon Industries, Kolon Corporation and ANTA, and will expand its business to the greater China region, such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau. It will also be a 50:50 joint venture partnership between Kolon Group and ANTA.
Park Joon-sung, director of Kolon Industries which manages Kolon Sport, said, “Kolon Sport has turned a profit and improved the brand awareness through various margeting campaigns in China and product power. With the establishment of the joint venture, the company expects to expand the brand status in both China and the greater China region through close cooperation with ANTA, and aims to become No. 1 outdoor brand in the greater China region.”
Kolon Sport first entered the Chinese market in 2006 and currently operates 214 stores in China as of Dec. 2016. The company has posted a double digit sales growth in the last three years. ANTA runs ANTA Sports, the world’s fourth largest sportswear brand in terms of market capitalization, and it has a 10.3 percent share in the Chinese sportswear market.