Superdry offloads Asia Pacific IP assets in £40m deal

Superdry has announced it has agreed to sell its intellectual property assets in the Asia Pacific region to Cowell Fashion Company in a $50m (£40m) deal.

Cowell is an experienced local operator within the APAC region and has been listed on the South Korean stock exchange since April 2015.

Cowell’s operations focus on licensing and manufacturing apparel products for established global brands across product areas including underwear, sportswear, and accessories, and they are ideally positioned to appreciate and maximise Superdry’s potential across the region.

The agreement means Cowell will own and use the Superdry brand in key APAC markets, starting with its home market of South Korea and extending to others including China.

The deal will see Superdry and Cowell working together to develop products relevant for those markets.

Superdry said it plans to build a collaborative partnership with Cowell, capitalising on the shift in consumer preferences in Asia towards lifestyle products, by working with Cowell to design and develop market-relevant products which remain consistent with the Superdry brand heritage.

Superdry will provide certain support and know-how relating to the Superdry brand to Cowell during the first two years following completion of the sale. In consideration for these services, an additional management fee of $1m (£812,000) will be paid directly to Superdry, with the first instalment being payable on completion and the second instalment being payable on the first anniversary of completion.

Julian Dunkerton, Superdry’s CEO and founder, said: “This agreement offers the Superdry brand a fantastic opportunity to expand its global reach, whilst providing additional funding to help deliver our turnaround programme in the face of the challenging consumer landscape. I’m absolutely thrilled by the opportunity to work together with Cowell to create inspiring products consistent with our brand heritage and build out across the APAC market.”

Cowell Fashion chairman Lee Sun-seop added: “The collaboration between Cowell Fashion, which has state of the art planning, design, and production know-how, and Superdry PLC, which has a long history of innovation and brand power, can be said to be the beginning of a paradigm shift in the Korean fashion industry.

“With the two companies aligned together through explosive synergy, the plan to grow Superdry into a Superbrand across Asia is an exciting proposition as long term partners.”