Shanghai Tang sale fights against M&A current

Hong Kong

AN Italian high-end textile entrepreneur is swimming against the global M&A current.

Alessandro Bastagli has purchased, with the help of a consortium, the Western-friendly fashion brand Shanghai Tang from the US$43 billion Swiss luxury giant Richemont. The deal, one of very few Italian outbound buys of recent years, at first glance appears contrary to the trend of wealthy Chinese buyers snapping up cash-strapped European brand names. But Shanghai Tang was never very Chinese in the first place, which may have been the problem.