(Yicai Global) March 10 -- Struggling Metersbonwe Fashion & Accessories will sell the world-renowned fashion museum that the Chinese casualwear brand has operated for the last 15 years to a local liquor maker for CNY448 million (USD68.8 million) to ease its cash flow pressure.

Shanghai Bacchus Liquor, which produces the ready-to-drink cocktail brand Rio, will buy the 38,225-square-meter Metersbonwe Costume Museum, which houses a unique collection of traditional garments from across the country, from affiliate Shanghai Mogong Industry, Metersbonwe said yesterday.

Shanghai-based Metersbonwe stands to make a profit of CNY250 million (USD38.4 million) from the sale, it said.

The liquor maker will use the site for the display and education of low-alcohol beverages and liquor-related culture, as well as a place to train staff and entertain guests, parent firm Shanghai Bairun Investment Holding Group said.

Metersbonwe, once one of China’s most loved brands, has seen its revenue nearly halve to CNY5.5 billion (USD845 million) in 2019 from CNY10 billion in 2011. It is expected to have racked up losses of up to CNY820 million (USD126 million) last year, according to the performance projection it made last October.

The firm’s stock price [SHE:002269] closed down 1.48 percent today at CNY1.33 (USD0.20), a drop of 90 percent from its peak in August 2015, giving it a market valuation of CNY3.3 billion (USD507.1 million).

Bairun Investment is a neighbor of Metersbonwe in the Kangqiao Industry Park in Shanghai’s Pudong New Area. Its stock price [SHE:002568] closed up 7.27 percent at CNY90.49 (USD13.9), with a market capitalization of CNY48.5 billion (USD7.5 billion).

Editor: Kim Taylor