Billionaire Cheng family seeks to oust Giordano CEO after failed buyout
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The family of Henry Cheng, Giordano’s top shareholder, made a failed bid to take over Giordano in 2022.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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HONG KONG – The family of Hong Kong’s third-richest person is seeking to remove Mr Peter Lau from his role as chief executive officer of Giordano International, following a failed bid to acquire the clothing company two years ago.
The family of Mr Henry Cheng, Giordano’s top shareholder with a stake of about 24.1 per cent, wants to appoint Mr Colin Currie, whose previous roles include China managing director of Adidas, to the job, according to a stock exchange filing on Feb 5.
They also want to appoint two of Mr Cheng’s children, Sonia and Christopher, as non-executive directors of the board. The Giordano board is seeking legal advice on appropriate follow-up actions, the firm said.
Giordano’s shares fell as much as 7.4 per cent on Jan 6, the most in almost a month, before paring losses to 4.9 per cent.
Giordano has long been in the Cheng family’s sights. In 2022, the family offered to buy the remaining shares of the retailer for a maximum cash consideration of HK$2.56 billion (S$440 million), but the deal failed when fewer than half of the company’s shareholders approved it. Local media including HK01 reported at the time that Mr Lau, who is also Giordano’s chairman and a significant shareholder, said he rejected the deal because he was not in need of cash.
Giordano was founded in 1981 by the now-jailed pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai, who later sold his entire stake in the company to focus on his news empire.
The company has grown into one of the biggest Hong Kong fashion brands, with 1,798 stores as at mid-2023 across markets including Greater China, South Korea, South-east Asia and the Middle East.
The company is expected to report as much as HK$345 million in profit for the year through December, up 29 per cent from a year earlier, it said in a filing in January.
The Chengs have found themselves in the spotlight in recent months as a succession saga plays out publicly. Eldest son Adrian, 44, was widely seen as the most likely candidate to take over the family’s sprawling US$24 billion (S$32 billion) empire, but has faced growing uncertainty about his status following comments from his father about still looking for a successor.
Adrian is CEO of real estate developer New World Development, while Sonia, 43, is a joint vice-chairman of Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group. Their brother Christopher, 34, is an executive director at NWS Holdings. BLOOMBERG
