Yue Yuen Holdings announced last week it has bought a 73% stake in sportswear and casualwear maker Pro Kingtex Industrial Co Ltd.


The world’s largest shoe firm, which makes footwear for industry giants such as Nike, Timberland, Adidas and Reebok, said it paid $3.8 million for the four-year-old firm which is currently suffering losses.

Earlier this year, Yue Yuen said it plans to move into the sportswear manufacturing market and had set aside between $150m and $160m to increase production lines and boost its materials business.

Managing director David Tsai said at the time: “It complements our footwear business. We hope by this time next year, we would have some sportswear products coming out.”

Yue Yuen’s 254 production lines in factories in Vietnam, China and Indonesia churned out more than 130 million pairs of shoes last year as it posted a record profit of $228.5m on turnover of $1.94 billion.