Shandong Ruyi Technology Group Co., Ltd is a Chinese textiles and clothing company. Founded in 1972 in Jining, China, it is a subsidiary of Jining Ruyi Investment Co., Ltd. As of 2017, Ruyi Group was the largest textile manufacturer in China. It owns or part owns brands including Bally, :fr:Groupe SMCP|SMCP, Aquascutum, and Renown Inc. and has expressed ambitions to become the Chinese equivalent of LVMH.
History
1972–2000
The company was founded in 1972, and was formerly known as Shandong Jining Woolen Mill, and is based in Jining, China. It is a subsidiary of Jining Ruyi Investment Co., Ltd. Future chair Qiu Yafu became vice president in late 1992 of Shandong Ruyi Woolen Textiles Group Co Ltd, and president in late 1996. In late 1997 he then became chairman and president, roles he held until 2002.
2001–2016
Shandong Ruyi was founded as is in 2001. Qiu Yafu was chairman and president of Shandong Ruyi Science & Technology Group from August 2002 until August 2008, when he became only chairman. He is also currently president of Shandong Ruyi Woolen Textiles Group Co Ltd. In 2010, it purchased a 41 percent stake in Renown Inc., a Japanese apparel maker, for $36.8 billion, becoming its largest stakeholder. As of 2016, it also owned Hong Kong-based menswear group Trinity. Trinity Ltd was purchased for $283.88 million. In December 2016, Aquascutum, a British luxury clothing manufacturer, was due to be sold for $120m to two buyers, one of which was Shandong Ruyi. It was sold to Shandong Ruyi for $117 million. As of 2016, Shandong Ruyi owned the French company :fr:Groupe SMCP|SMCP, owner of fashion brandsSandro, and Claudie Pierlot. It purchased the majority stake in SCMP in 2016 for £1.15 billion after six months of negotiations. SMCP CEO Daniel Lalonde said that the investment would fund SMCP's growth overseas, particularly in Asia. SMCP was then taken public in 2017, with Shandong Ruyi maintaining its stake.
2017–2018
In November 2017, the company offered to buy a 54% controlling stake of menswear supplier Bagir for $16.5 million, due to complete on 31 August 2018. In February 2018, Shandong Ruyi acquired a majority stake in the Swiss luxury fashion brand Bally from its parent companyJAB Holding Company for an undisclosed sum. The closing of the operation is still suspended, however, since more than one year. At the time, Yafu Qiu was chairman of Shandong Ruyi Group. As of February 2018, British billionaire Sir Philip Green was considering selling his Arcadia company to Shandong Ruyi. As of 2017, Ruyi Group was the largest textile manufacturer in China. As of 2018, it was also in the top 20 in terms of revenues for luxury fashion groups.
Operations
As of 2018, most of its business was concentrated in the clothing industrial chain, including supplying yarn, fabric, raw materials, dying, weaving, sewing and production. The company has operations in China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, India, Pakistan, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Italy. In 2017, Shandong Ruyi Technology Group said it would renovate a former television factory in Arkansas into its first facility in North America, in a $410 million project. It was expected that Ruyi would absorb "almost all the cotton produced by Arkansas annually."
