ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has acquired equity securities in Promising (Suzhou) Sporting Goods Company Limited (hereinafter “Promising”), which is a Chinese partner of the American brand Outdoor Products whose brand rights are owned by ITOCHU,^* thus making Promising an equity-method affiliate. With this, we build a joint management structure with Promising, aiming to further develop the Outdoor Products brand in China.

Promising was established in 2018 and has been in charge of planning, production, and sales of Outdoor Products on the Chinese market. The two companies started working together in 2019 when we concluded a licensing agreement. After that, Promising has expanded the business across China thanks to its strong sales network and excellent business management. It experienced rapid growth, achieving 17 billion yen on a retail sales basis and a total of 116 stores (62 directly managed, 54 franchised) by 2025.

This capital participation will allow us and Promising to shift from the earlier licensing agreement to a joint management structure, thus creating a consistent business organization from product planning to retail. The plan now is to strengthen marketing investment, including outdoor and e-commerce advertising, while also focusing on improving brand recognition, expanding the physical store network, and enhancing e-commerce channels. The goal for these initiatives is to achieve 40 billion yen on a retail sales basis on the Chinese market in five years.

ITOCHU has put forth the management policy "The Brand-new Deal – Profit opportunities are shifting downstream –" and is developing our business areas by tracking needs as they diversify with social changes and by pioneering and evolving downstream businesses that are closer to the consumers. ITOCHU remains committed to enhancing the total value of the Outdoor Products brand by leveraging the wealth of experience and expertise it has gained in the brand business over the years, as well as its market-driven approach.