Jewelry mergers and acquisitions continue, Japanese high-end jewelry brand Tasaki sold for 4.8 billion!
Recently, Asian investment fund FountainVest Partners and Japanese fund Unison Capital acquired Japanese jewelry seller Tasaki Co. Industry insiders believe that the investment in Tasaki Co. marks its deep bet and confidence in the natural diamond jewelry market.
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The total amount of the acquisition is approximately RMB 4.8 billion
The total amount of the acquisition is estimated to be 100 billion yen, or approximately 4.8 billion yuan.
Tasaki & Co. mainly owns Tasaki, a Japanese luxury jewelry brand known for its quality pearls and unique designs, and AHKAH, a "mini jewelry" brand.
Regarding this acquisition, market analysts said that this is a high recognition of the brand value and market potential of TASIQI by the capital, and also a firm confidence of the capital in the long-term growth prospects of the natural diamond jewelry market. In recent years, natural diamonds, as rare and precious natural resources, are still favored by consumers for their unique emotional value and investment attributes, especially in the Asian market, where the public's demand for high-end jewelry is growing.
It is reported that this acquisition is FountainVest Capital's debut in the Japanese market, and it is also a strategic move for it and Unison Capital to jointly develop the high-end consumer goods field, especially the jewelry industry.
According to people familiar with the matter, the two investment institutions have high hopes for the future development of Tasaki & Co., and plan to push this jeweler with a long history and exquisite craftsmanship to new heights through a series of strategic adjustments and business expansion. In the long run, FountainVest Capital and Unison Capital hope to maximize investment returns through future listings or resales, although they have not yet disclosed a specific timetable or further expansion goals.
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The jewelry industry cannot escape mergers and acquisitions
Let’s first talk about one of the buyers in this transaction, FountainVest Partners, a Chinese private equity fund.
One of FountainVest's most well-known cases is that it joined hands with the Anta consortium to acquire Arc'teryx, the favorite clothing brand of middle-aged people, in 2018. At that time, FountainVest formed a consortium with Anta Sports, Chip Wilson, the founder of lululemon, and Tencent to acquire Arc'teryx's parent company Amer Sports for 4.66 billion euros. FountainVest held a 21.4% stake in the seller's company.
This transaction also became the largest overseas acquisition in China's sporting goods industry.
Talking back to the jewelry industry, the salient features of this industry are heavy assets and high industry barriers. Not all players can successfully occupy a place in the industry. It is not easy to develop and grow. This has also led to some well-known jewelry companies choosing to be merged and acquired in recent years.
For example, this year, there have been several mergers and acquisitions, including jewelry companies selling at bargain prices.
In October, LUSIX, an Israeli diamond cultivation company, was sold to Fenix, a Belgian cultured diamond company, for $4 million. It is understood that LUSIX was founded in 2016 and has completed a total of $152 million in financing, with investors including LVMH Luxury Ventures, the venture capital department of LVMH Group, and Ragnar Crossover Fund.
In November, Yuyuan issued an announcement that it had introduced 36 external investors to its subsidiary Yuyuan Jewelry Fashion Group Co., Ltd. to invest in the partnership platform and acquire shares in the jewelry fashion group through the partnership platform. Among them, the 36 external investors have subscribed to a total of 770 million yuan in the partnership platform investment shares;
In September, Swiss luxury group Richemont completed the acquisition of Italian contemporary high-end jewelry brand Vhernier. The former purchased 100% of the brand's shares from the Italian Traglio family. In the jewelry industry, Richemont is a veritable internationally renowned luxury group, which owns high-end brands Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. The group also acquired Italian high-end jewelry brand Buccellati for 230 million euros (about 1.795 billion yuan) in 2019. In the group's 2024 fiscal year, its jewelry department's sales reached 14.2 billion euros, accounting for 68% of total sales, and its operating profit margin reached 33.1%.
However, in the past few years, there have been many financing transactions in the jewelry industry. Data shows that from 2010 to the third quarter of 2022, there have been 416 financing events in China's jewelry industry, with a disclosed financing amount of more than 23 billion yuan.
Since the beginning of this year, several gold jewellery companies have achieved IPOs. The most recent one was in November 2024, when Mengjinyuan completed its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company mainly focuses on the gold jewellery market in third-tier cities. In China, gold fever is a fashion trend that is not easy to ignore, and gold is no longer just the "favourite of aunts".
According to the "In-depth Research Report on China's Gold and Silver Jewelry Market 2024-2029", the scale of China's jewelry market has jumped from 580 billion yuan in 2018 to 820 billion yuan in 2023, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.2%. In 2024, the market size of the industry is expected to exceed 920.1 billion yuan.
Jewelry M&A cases continue to emerge, which undoubtedly sends a strong signal to the industry and beyond. The jewelry market is still seen as a safe haven for steady growth, attracting more and more capital attention and investment. (Comprehensive China Business News, Dongshishi Capital Views)