Shandong Ruyi to buy majority stake in Japan's Renown

Textile manufacturer Shandong Ruyi is set to become the controlling shareholder of Japan’s Renown (3696.TO), state media reported. Shandong Ruyi, parent of Shandong Jining Ruyi Wollen Textile Co (002193.SZ) is expected to pay about US$45 million for a 40% stake in the struggling apparel maker. Renown, which owns clothing brands including D’urban and Henry Cotton’s, booked sales of US$1.43 billion for the year ended February, booking a net loss of US$121 million. Shandong Ruyi plans to launch these brands in China as the country’s fashion retail sector takes off. The company last year had planned to inject US$73 million into ITAT Group, one of China’s biggest owner-operator of clothing retail chain stores. By year-end 2009, Ruyi had total assets of US$1 billion and sales of US$248 million.