Itochu invests in Ruyi's acquisition of The Lycra blended yarn for denim

Itochu Corporation has announced its participation, by capital investment, in the acquisition of The Lycra Company by its capital alliance and business partner Shandong Ruyi Science and Technology Group. Looking ahead, Itochu will work in conjunction with Shandong Ruyi to further increase the corporate value of Lycra and maximise collaborative synergies.

US-based The Lycra Company was established as the result of carving out the apparel and advanced textiles operations of US textiles giant Invista. The company has established a global presence primarily with spandex (polyurethane elastic fibre), polyester, nylon and various other synthetic fibres used in clothing items.

The Lycra owns numerous competitive original material brands including Lycra, Coolmax and Thermolite. Lycra in particular—as the signature brand name for spandex—has penetrated widely throughout the global marketplace since its initial launch in 1958 as a result of its high quality and effective marketing campaigns, and has maintained a highly competitive profile to this day.

Shandong Ruyi was founded in 1972 as a state-owned wool textile factory in China. Since its privatisation in 2001, it has widely expanded its business operations from upstream to downstream, as one of the major textile groups in China.

Tokyo-headquartered Itochu and Shandong Ruyi began trading raw wool from Australia in the 1990s. Since then, the two companies have established an excellent relationship with each other over many years. In 2011, the companies strengthened their relationship further by forming a capital alliance and business partnership agreement. “This time, too, in considering its acquisition of The Lycra, Shandong Ruyi requested Itochu to make a joint investment and Itochu chose to participate in the acquisition in view of the various business synergies which are anticipated as a result of the investment, including the development of environmentally-friendly materials and the expansion of the initiative business,” Itochu said in a press statement.

As one aspect of the Reinvented Business concept, which is the basic policy of its current medium-term management plan, Itochu is aiming to expand initiatives with major retailers around the world, by building a value chain based on effective industry-leading control over raw materials as the starting point. The Japanese company regards its involvement in the acquisition of The Lycra as an investment that will contribute to the improvement and enhancement of its portfolio of competitive materials; following on from its development of environmentally-friendly cellulose fibres in collaboration with the Metsa Group, and its recycled polyester business utilising technologies developed by Jeplan, Inc (Japan Environment Planning), the statement added.

Moving forward, Itochu will continue working to build an inimitable business model by making effective use of comprehensive capabilities of the Itochu Group.