King & Wood Mallesons (“KWM”) advised the A-share listed company Guangzhou Canudilo Fashion & Accessories Co., Ltd. (“CANUDILO”, stock code: 002656) on its successful acquisition of 51% equity interest in the Italian company Levitas S.p.A (“LEVITAS”) in July 2015 for Euro 40.68 million. LEVITAS owns and operates the top sportswear brand Dirk Bikkembergs.  As part of the transaction, CANUDILO is also granted with the license to distribute Dirk Bikkembergs branded products in the Greater China Territory (including mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan).

The acquisition involved two parallel transactions, being: (i) the acquisition by CANUDILO (through its Hong Kong subsidiary) of shares in LEVITAS, including pre-acquisition restructuring of LEVITAS, share acquisition, joint venture arrangements, and complicated licensing and distribution arrangements with the shareholders; and (ii) private placement by CANUDILO to certain investors to raise funding for the acquisition and other ancillary commercial transactions.

KWM China team acted as lead counsel for this matter working closely with KWM Milan team for the client. KWM team has provided CANUDILO with high quality, seamlessly cross-border and cross-practice-group legal services, which were highly regarded by the client and other advisors. KWM China team includes Partner Xiong Jin and Lai Jianglin, Associates Sun Rui, Guo Zhongyong, Hu Yizhou and Zeng Jia. KWM Milan team includes the Partner Ettore Scandale, Of-counsel Enrico Raso and Associate Sergio Chisari. The partner Song Yanyan in China office also provided strong support to the project.

CANUDILO is a Chinese high-end menswear brand with a focus on business travel fashion.