Acquisition of Forever 21's parent company shares, SHEIN's industry ecosystem welcomes another positive

NEW YORK, August 24 – SPARC Group Holdings II LLC (“SPARC Group”) announced a strategic partnership with SHEIN, a global online fashion and lifestyle retailer, to bring better quality, more affordable products to fashion consumers in the United States and around the world.

SPARC Group is a joint venture between Authentic Brands Group and Simon Property Group of the United States. It has more than 4,200 retail stores and shop-in-shops worldwide. Its operating brands include Forever 21, Brooks Brothers and Reebok.

Through this cooperation, SHEIN will acquire about one-third of the shares of SPARC Group, and SPARC Group will also own a small number of shares in SHEIN. After the cooperation, SPARC and its brands can open up new growth space with the help of SHEIN's vast global market and mature e-commerce experience. SHEIN will obtain Forever 21's online distribution, and SHEIN's customers will also enjoy the platform's product diversity and cost-effectiveness. At the same time, with the help of Forever21's retail network, this cooperation will also provide SHEIN with the opportunity to test offline sales and experience, including opening stores in Forever 21 stores in the United States and allowing customers to return and exchange goods offline.

SHEIN's globalization enters a new stage, injecting new vitality into the global brand

SPARC said that SHEIN's innovative on-demand production model and consumer online experience, combined with SPARC's rich experience in retail and brand management, the two parties will continue to complement each other's strengths, accelerate product innovation, explore new business areas, and enhance customer experience, thereby further expanding their market influence in the fashion field.

Founded in 2012, SHEIN started as its own clothing brand SHEIN. With its innovative flexible on-demand supply model in the clothing industry, the SHEIN brand has achieved the unity of fashion and high cost performance in clothing products, and is widely welcomed and loved by overseas consumers. Based on the vast sales network, mature marketing experience and innovative supply chain system accumulated by SHEIN's own brands, SHEIN has continuously introduced products and brands from third-party merchants many years ago to help them better expand the international market. In 2023, in addition to its own brands, SHEIN's platform model has been further iterated to form a dual-engine development model of self-operated brands + platforms.

"We are delighted to enter into this partnership with SHEIN as it reflects our shared vision to make fashion more accessible to more consumers," said Marc Miller, CEO of SPARC Group. "This partnership gives us the opportunity to bring more innovative, trendsetting products to fashion lovers around the world."

Whether it is SHEIN's industry-leading flexible supply chain, mature online experience or vast global sales network, it can help SPARC and its brands open up new growth space and inject new vitality into global brands. Currently, SHEIN provides products and services to consumers in more than 150 countries around the world. The cooperation is expected to expand Forever 21's online distribution on SHEIN and increase the richness of fashion products on the SHEIN platform.

Online and offline linkage expands global influence

At the same time, SHEIN may also use SPARC and its strategic partners to further link offline sales and brand management. With the help of Forever 21's retail network, this cooperation will also provide SHEIN with the opportunity to test offline sales and experience, including opening stores in Forever 21 stores in the United States and allowing customers to return and exchange goods offline.

"We are honored to have SPARC Group as a partner and shareholder in SHEIN," said Donald Tang, Executive Chairman of SHEIN. "The combination of Simon Property Group's leadership in the physical retail industry, ABG Brands' brand management experience and SHEIN's on-demand model will help us continue to drive growth and make fashion accessible to everyone."

"We warmly welcome SHEIN as a strategic partner and shareholder of SPARC Group. SHEIN is the world's leading online fashion platform and an important driving force of global fashion and value." Jamie Salter and David Simon, directors of SPARC Group, said: "We are looking forward to this cooperation."

SHEIN

Forever

twenty one

Acquisition