Why did Prada need additional capital?
According to Sanderson (2011), Prada, one of the world’s most valuable luxury goods group, was nearly collapsed under the weight of debt due to various acquisitions in the late 1990s and the early 2000s. As a result of these acquisitions, Prada took on €1 billion in debt. Additionally, China showed a 30 percent increase in the luxury market in 2010. More importantly, Greater China, including Hong Kong, ranked number three, showing 23 percent growth in 2010 (Zargani, 2011). Therefore, expansion to the Hong Kong may be a right decision for Prada to regain its market and profits. However, in order for Prada to increasing number of stores, and expanding their global presence, Prada will need additional capital to finance the expansion.
Why did Prada choose to issue its IPO in Hong Kong? What were the advantages and disadvantages of doing so?
There are many advantages for Prada to issue its initial public offering (IPO) in Hong Kong. First of all, the Chinese government is promoting investors by offering many attractive incentives for investors through the purchase of $50 million of shares, tax advantages, and free transferability of securities and currency convertibility. Additionally, the demand for luxury goods in China has surged at double-digit rates in recent years (Gustini, 2011). It is predicted that the China’s market will overtake the United States as the top market for consumer goods by 2020 (Dishman, 2011). Moreover,
This expansion demonstrates how the luxury industry is now run by massive corporations whose focus is only on growth, visibility, brand awareness, advertising, and most importantly, PROFITS! With growth and expansion, has come a decrease in quality and rarity. The luxury garments produced are mostly not handmade but are even outsourced to large factories in places such as China and Turkey. Also, to meet quarterly turnover projections, “designers churn(ed) out increasingly trendy collections of clothes, handbags, and shoes.” (Thomas, Pg. 246) With hundreds of new stores around the globe the surplus of designer labeled merchandise is immense hence, the proliferation of outlet malls.
For years, Louis Vuitton enjoyed high profit margins from the luxury market in Japan until other competitors such as Prada and Gucci entered the market. Counterfeiting also became a threat to the firm’s brand by satisfying consumer demand at lower prices. Other external global environmental problems included highly priced products, limited availability in stores only, and a heavy dependency on the Japanese market (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 14-18). Moreover, “the after-shocks of the global recession were a threat to Louis Vuitton’s luxury business in Japan”, and Japanese women became less interested in the brand’s products (Pearce & Robinson, 2013, p. 14-18). Alternatively, Louis Vuitton could “reinvent itself and regain what used to be its well-attested
The consumption of luxury goods in China is mounting sharply. Not only those born to elite families, but also many common people are greedy for luxury brands (China, a Booming
This behavior brings competitive advantages to the European luxury brands. Moreover, customers in different countries have different purchase behaviors. For instance, some countries’ customers are willing to move away from common recognized brand, because they want to purchase more exclusive products. Furthermore, because of the increasing speed of globalization, people are more likely willing to travel between different countries. These travelers will buy luxury good during their trips. In fact, Chinese tourists contributed over one third of sales in Europe. The luxury goods industry should notice to adjust the actual demand between local people and tourists in Europe
Quick response of Zara leads it to be successful in the fashion clothing industry. Zara adopts international strategy for its operation. With vertical integration, it benefits Zara in cost aspect, however, it involves some risks. Due to our anaylysis on Zara’s operations, some of the recommendations are made to facilitate its further improvements.
With China emerging as a global power in business within the last decade, knowing about doing business in China has become more important than ever. There are both many advantanges and challenges with doing business in China in this modern era, and understanding both sides of this coin is the key to being successful in China. Some aspects to keep in mind include the cultural barrier, the price of the work force in China compared to the United States, and have the “made in China” brand be accepted back in the United States.
China is becoming more westernised, particularly the ‘cosmopolitan’ city of Shanghai, where demand for Western products is increasing rapidly as disposable income rises in line with China’s strong economic growth. Michel’s wanted to establish a foothold in the market at an early stage to demonstrate a long-term commitment, which has been identified as essential to compete successfully in the Shanghai market (per Tim Harcourt, Austrade Chief Economist).
Risk is a core reason why other luxury goods companies, with an eye on a Hong Kong listing, have hesitated. Prada was bold in its listing strategy, and that has to be one of the biggest lessons. It is one thing to identify emerging Asia – and China in particular – as the sweet spot of luxury goods opportunity, it is another to act on it
LVMH’s brand portfolio is a catalogue of the finest things money can buy. Arnault said, “A Star brand is timeless, modern, fast growing and highly profitable.”[iii] LVMH has positioned its brands strongly in the luxury segment offering more than 50 different brands under their five core competencies. LVMH has been successful through all of their various brands in their portfolio giving them each their independence and creativity. “LVMH is well known for leaving much operational and marketing freedom to the various brands it owns.”[iv] “LVMH has done an excellent job of brand positioning, says Ben Cavender, senior analyst at China Market Research Group. It has succeeded in securing the particularly enviable position of gaining a following among the top percentage of China’s wealthy. As the financial crisis stretches on, LVMH customers in China still have money to spend.[v] “LVMH’s brand imaging, which relies heavily on pushing its European heritage, is so successful that it has benefited other brands by proxy, says Paul French, one of the founders of Access Asia, a group dedicated to tracking regional consumer and marketing trends. “Everyone hangs on the coattails of Louis Vuitton’s brand imaging in China.”[vi]
The last problem we highlighted concerns how to increase the number of customers in the mainland China market . First, we believe that the most relevant issue is a survey amongst customers on the Shanghai Tang brand perception and the 5 luxury brands in their top-of-mind, in order to analyze the competitors that the company has to face in the future.
This report examines the strategic management of the international iconic fashion company- Prada. In this report we conduct an analysis of the external and internal environments and identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the Prada. The key issues identified in the environment analysis is the Prada’s future market especially China. The report reviews the financial and non-financial objectives of the company’s strategies and their affects for the stakeholders. Prada is engaging in their attempts to achieve their objectives. The strategic
1) Haute Couture – highest end, most exclusive, custom for wealthiest (Prada, Burberry, Hermes, Gucci, Polo Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein, and Louis
Emerging markets- The 2 biggest emerging markets for luxury fashion products are China and India, which is a great opportunity for the brand to explore and
Starbucks is one of the largest coffee shop chains in the world. In 2005 it was the leading coffeehouse retailer in the world with operations in 34 countries outside the US, counting 10.241 coffeehouses. Starbucks began its international expansion with Japan in 1995. We think Starbucks is a global company. Throughout the answer we will use Starbucks’ value chain activities to explain why Starbucks can be considered a global company.
In the 1990’s, there was around 100,000 state owned enterprises (SOE) in China and over half of them were losing money. Since 1992, most of the SOEs were given freedom to reform and extensive new investment was required for the action. IPO is one of the effective channels to raise capital in the market. Beside the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, SOE also sought listing out of the PRC and Hong Kong became their first destination.