Galeries Lafayette, owner of the eponymous and iconic Paris department store and operator of over 63 department stores worldwide, has established a strategic joint venture in Hong Kong with IT Limited, a Hong Kong retailer.
The joint venture’s objective is to set up, operate and manage department stores under the Galeries Lafayette name in major PRC cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chengdu. The joint venture is expected to open its first department store in Beijing in April 2013.
The JV will be the cornerstone of Galeries Lafayette’s expansion in the region and comes at a time when the retail industry in China continues to grow and develop. Retail sales in the country have grown by nearly 20% in 2010 compared with 2009, according to government figures. The retail market is expected to become the second largest (behind the US) in the world by 2012, overtaking Japan.
Gide Loyrette Nouel advised Galeries Lafayette on the joint venture. Its team, led by partner Rebecca Silli and senior associate Gilles Cardonnel, assisted in the drafting and negotiation of the joint venture agreements, which were all governed by Hong Kong law. Gide’s Shanghai-based intellectual property partner Huang Zhen advised on all aspects of intellectual property, in particular the master trademark licence agreement.
