(Yicai Global) May 16 -- After revealing the acquisition of century-old Italian clothing brand Cerruti 1881 and British heritage menswear brand Kent & Curwen last month, China’s Biem.L.Fdlkk Garment recently said it had bought land in Guangdong province with the aim of building a global luxury group.

Biem.L.Fdlkk Garment bought the usage rights to a 90,000-square meter plot of industrial land in its home city of Guangzhou in Guangdong for CNY200 million (USD28.7 million).

The golf apparel maker’s goal is to become a global luxury goods group, with the land purchase a long-term consideration, it said in a statement on May 12. The firm has not opened any stores overseas but may do so in the future, it added.

Biem.L.Fdlkk Garment announced the indirect acquisition of the global rights to use the trademarks of two international luxury brands Cerruti 1881 and Kent & Curwen in April, shelling out EUR57 million (USD62.10 million) and EUR38 million, respectively.

Founded in 2003, Biem.L.Fdlkk Garment positioned itself as a supplier of high-end sportswear. Amid a lackluster domestic clothing market last year, the firm’s operating profit rose 16 percent to CNY855 million, with operating revenue up 6 percent at CNY2.9 billion (USD416.5 million).

In the first quarter of this year, its net profit surged 41 percent to CNY301 million on a 33 percent jump in revenue to CNY1.1 billion. Brokerages such as China Merchants Securities, Huaxia Securities, and Kaiyuan Securities all said that the earnings had “exceeded expectations.

It is worth noting that Shandong province-based Ruyi Group, which has fallen into financial difficulties, was the previous buyer of the two overseas brands.

In 2017, Ruyi took control of Trinity Group for HKD2.2 billion (USD280.72 million), becoming its largest shareholder and its menswear brands such as Kent & Curwen. Ruyi boss Qiu Yafu also sought to build the company into China’s LVMH by acquiring overseas brands.

The Chinese luxury market had sales of CNY956 billion (USD137.3 billion) last year, accounting for 38 percent of the global total, per data from the 2022 China Luxury Goods Report released by Yaok Group’s research institute, a professional research and consulting body in the field of high-end consumption in China.

Editors: Zhang Yushuo, Peter Thomas