Sejeong Group Sells First-Generation Casual Brand 'NII'

Business Slump Due to COVID-19 Shock
After 22 Years of Operation, NII Finally Sold

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Sejung Group has decided to sell its casual brand NII, operated by its subsidiary Sejung and Future. Cushman & Wakefield has been appointed as the advisory firm.

Sejung Group announced on the 24th that considering the market situation where offline stores are suffering double hits due to the economic downturn, the overall slump in the young casual fashion market, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, it decided to sell NII after reviewing the efficiency of its brand business. The group plans to focus its capabilities on brand businesses with core competitiveness in the future.

NII was launched during the 1999 IMF financial crisis with the idea that "crisis is opportunity," as a casual brand offering reasonable prices, and within three years surpassed 100 billion KRW in sales, establishing itself as a leading young casual brand in Korea. Even during the 2010s, when first-generation casual brands were losing their foothold, NII continuously attempted changes by remodeling the brand and introducing street casual styles. In 2019, it attracted the attention of younger generations by releasing collaboration products with popular characters such as Kakao Friends and SpongeBob.

However, due to the overall slump in the fashion market, the development of online fashion businesses, and the impact of COVID-19 causing a sharp decline in offline sales, the business that had continued for 22 years has reached the stage of being wound down. The sales of Sejung and Future, which operates NII, steadily decreased from 79.9 billion KRW in 2017 to 62.9 billion KRW in 2018 and 44.9 billion KRW in 2019. Since 2018, it turned to a deficit, recording operating losses of 5.1 billion KRW in 2018 and 9.4 billion KRW in 2019.

The sale's lead agency pointed out that NII's accumulated customer base, brand potential, and the infrastructure support available from the group after the sale are important strengths seen by potential buyers. They expect that through brand transformation targeting the MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z) and strategizing online distribution channels after the sale, the brand can sufficiently recover its performance.

Sejung Group plans to enhance brand efficiency and focus on a solid business portfolio through a selection and concentration strategy in response to market changes. The group will concentrate on ‘Wellmade’ and ‘Olivia Lauren,’ which have core competitiveness, and strengthen the competitiveness of ‘Didier Dubot’ and ‘Illyan,’ which are showing stability as future growth engines and are actively opening new stores. Additionally, the group plans to focus on nurturing ‘Dongchun Sanghoe,’ which is expanding its online channels and improving product planning accuracy.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.