Japanese fund acquires Vietnamese fashion firm

Advantage Partners did not publish the details of the transaction but emphasised that it was attracted by the high-quality product lines and the leading position of Elise in Vietnam’s women fashion market. This deal is also the first acquisition by Advantage Partners in Vietnam.

Advantage Partners was established in 1992 and has set up five funds. With the capital of $380 million, Asia Fund was created last year with the aim of investing in businesses outside Japan.

Established in 2011, Elise is a fast-growing retail chain in Vietnam, targeting women in the age of 20 to 45. Currently, the chain has about 95 showrooms across the country. Elise's founder and CEO Luu Thi Nga once declared that Elise positioned itself as the number-one fashion company.

At the end of last year, Elise had changes in ownership structure with two new legal entities, namely Elise Fashion Co., Ltd. and Elivina JSC.

In particular, Elise Fashion owns Elise shops nationwide while Elivina, with the chartered capital of about $10.8 million, owns Elise Fashion.

By November 2018, Elivina changed its owner and transformed into a limited liability company with the only shareholder being Asia Fashion Service Holdings Company, based in Singapore.

Thus, Elise fashion chain stores have quietly been acquired by foreign partners. However, Asia Fashion Service Holdings is only an intermediary entity established to carry out the transaction, as it was only established last August.

Last year, local media reported that Fast Retailing, the Uniqlo brand owner, had bought a 35 per cent stake of Elise. However, NNA Japan reported that Uniqlo's representative denied the transaction and Elise did not give any comment.