Japanese Advantage Partners acquires Vietnamese fashion chain Elise

Advantage Partners, through its Asia Fund, has acquired Elise Fashion, according to dealstreetasia.com. The transaction has marked the first acquisition between Advantage Partners’ funds and a Vietnamese company.

Advantage Partners said the deal would accelerate Elise’s growth by leveraging its experience in the women’s fashion segment. The private equity firm has invested in fashion companies such as Meganesuper, an eyewear retailer in Japan, and outdoor wear chain ISG ishii-sports.

Established in 1992, Advantage Partners has deployed five buyout funds and closed its first Asia fund last year with $380 million commitment, to make investments outside of Japan.

Prior to Elise, it had backed Beijing-based Korean restaurants operator Zheng Yi Wei, Malaysian consumer packaging manufacturer Plastic Centre Group, a Taiwan-based manufacturer of eggs and egg-related products, and a Shanghai-based provider of education services.

Elise Fashion was founded in 2011 as a branded fashion chain targeting women of 20-45. The company’s operations are vertically integrated from design and manufacturing to sales at its retail locations. Elise currently operates 95 stores across Vietnam.

In last October, there were rumours that Japanese fashion retailer Uniqlo bought a 35 per cent stake in Elise. However, Uniqlo denied the rumour, while Luu Thi Nga, CEO of Elise, did not immediately comment. In the middle of the year, Uniqlo announced launching in Vietnam with plans to open its first store in Ho Chi Minh City during the fall of 2019. UNIQLO will begin recruiting local talent as it prepares to open its store in one of the region’s most exciting, high-growth economies.