(Yicai) Sept. 4 -- Jiaman Dress, the Chinese operator of Hush Puppies' children's clothing business in China's mainland, intends to acquire the American footwear brand's intellectual property in the Asian country, including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao, for a whopping USD58.8 million.

The owner of children's clothing brands Souhait and Fees&Lutins has penned agreements with Wolverine World Wide, the parent of Hush Puppies, as well as its affiliates to purchase the core Hush Puppies trademark, along with 155 other trademarks, two patents, four copyrights, six domains, and other IP, the Beijing-based firm said in a statement recently.

It is common for Chinese garment makers to try to improve their positioning by buying overseas assets. For example, Viva China Holdings, a substantial shareholder of Li Ning, one of China’s leading sports brands, bought foreign brands Bossini, Amedeo Testoni and Clarks within three years.

However, market insiders are not too optimistic about Jiaman’s purchase. Hush Puppies is out of date and it would be better for Jiaman to pour the funds into improving its core business instead, per Cheng Weixiong, a brand specialist in footwear and fashion.

The price tag of USD58.8 million is kind of pricey, Yang Dayun, president of United Times Associates Int’l Brand Equity Inv. Management, said to Yicai. Yang further explained that Hush Puppies’ brand awareness and influence have been greatly declining in the United States.

Established in 1958, Hush Puppies has opened stores in over 2,000 cities in more than 140 countries. It entered the Chinese market in 1997.

Founded in 1992, Jiaman first focused on manufacturing kids' clothing but it has later widened its scope to become an authorized reseller of Versace, Emporio Armani, Hugo Boss, Kenzo Kids, as well as South Korean casual fashion brand Hazzys in China.

In the first half, Jiaman boosted its net profit by 30 percent to CNY96 million (USD13.2 million) from a year ago, according to its earnings report. Revenue rose by 5 percent to CNY524 million (USD72.1 million).

Shares of Jiaman [SHE: 301276] gained 1.6 percent to CNY28.91 (USD4) as of 3.40 p.m.

Editor: Emmi Laine