NEW YORK and HONG KONG and
SINGAPORE, Jan. 20, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- AMTD
International Inc. ("AMTD International", NYSE: HKIB; SGX:
HKB), a NYSE and SGX-ST dual-listed company and a subsidiary of
AMTD Group, is a leading Hong Kong
headquartered Asian financial services focused conglomerate. Today,
it announced the signing of a definitive agreement to acquire 100
percent of the equity interest in L'Officiel Inc.,
("L'Officiel"), a global fashion media holding group.
L'Officiel serves as the operational holding company for the
iconic French magazine L'Officiel, which recently celebrated its
100th anniversary, and the global L'Officiel network of fashion and
luxury media brands. It reaches 80 countries and nearly 100 million
people around the world. Recently, L'Officiel launched a pioneering
metaverse-based initiative - to mark its centennial year.
"By integrating L'Officiel into AMTD's SpiderNet, L'Officiel
demonstrates AMTD's ability to enable connectivity and positions us
as a core player in the global fashion and luxury media sector."
said Dr. Calvin Choi, Chairman of
AMTD Group and Founder of AMTD International. "AMTD Group is
committed to investing into and cementing points of connectivity
between peoples' interests, lifestyle, and ESG initiatives, acting
as a super-connector. The acquisition is the ideal springboard for
L'Officiel to spearhead the adoption of new Web 3.0 practices and
technologies coupled with the comprehensive financial services
tools and infrastructure set up by AMTD across Asia."
Dr. Feridun Hamdullahpur, Chairman of the board of directors of
AMTD International stated, "I am delighted with this exciting new
acquisition of L'Officiel joining the AMTD family. In our
increasingly complex and interconnected world, many strategic
synergies are forming enabling much bigger impact and value
proposition. Today's announcement clearly exemplifies and amplifies
AMTD's overall vison bridging its strong investment footprint and
the fashion world together with digital connectivity. Today marks a
very important day for the AMTD family as we can look into the
future with greater confidence and business resolve."
William Fung, CEO of AMTD
International added, "AMTD International pride ourselves on
innovation and offering leading edge products and services to our
clients. The successful acquisition of L'Officiel shows our
ambition and commitment to continue diversifying our businesses and
capabilities, and to be perfectly aligned with the overall AMTD
Group's IDEA strategy and expansion roadmap. I would like to extend
the warmest welcome to Benjamin Eymère and the L'Officiel team to
the AMTD family. I am extremely excited to embark on our journey
into the Metaverse with the support and expertise from Benjamin.
Opportunities and imagination are unlimited and without
boundaries."
Under the new management structure, Benjamin Eymère will
continue to serve as CEO of L'Officiel. In addition, he has been
appointed as Chief Metaverse Officer of AMTD International. In this
newly created role, Eymère is responsible for driving AMTD's
innovation in the Metaverse space. "Our goal is to showcase AMTD
International's leadership in metaversal entertainment and cultural
areas, and metaversal investment banking," Eymère said. "I am very
pleased about our admission into the AMTD family, and the extended
AMTD International's plan is to roll out a new world of
decentralized services and entertainment contents, leveraging
AMTD's sophisticated of digital transformation
capability."
As part of this strategic vision, AMTD is delighted to announce
the opening of the AMTD x L'Officiel land in The Sandbox, a leading
decentralized gaming virtual world and subsidiary of Animoca
Brands. The virtual space will feature a project that draws upon
L'Officiel's database of more than 100,000 exclusive images from
its 100-year history of fashion and culture. Titled "Fashion Skin,"
the project will include a collection of metaverse-ready virtual
clothing. The pieces will be developed by applying artificial
intelligence to L'Officiel's database of fashion imagery.
The acquisition of L'Officiel and the launch of a
first-of-its-kind initiative in The Sandbox signify AMTD Group's
IDEA strategy which embraces a variety of creative and innovative
projects around the world in media and entertainment, knowledge and
education, and crypto investment banking. In addition, the enlarged
AMTD International Group plans to establish/develop L'Officiel's
presence in Hong Kong,
Macau, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Switzerland, and the
Netherlands in the coming months.
Global Emerging Markets North America Inc. ("GEM") and
Financière Jalou are pleased to celebrate L'Officiel's 100th
anniversary and both parties are committed to ensuring the global
media network's continued success benefiting from comprehensive
collaboration with AMTD International. Christopher Brown, founder of GEM, and
Marie-José Jalou, president of Financière Jalou, will continue to
serve as Co-Chairs on the board of L'Officiel Inc., together with
Dr. Calvin Choi as the newly
appointed Lead Chairman of the board.
About AMTD International Inc.
AMTD International Inc.
(NYSE: HKIB; SGX: HKB) is a premier Hong
Kong-headquartered financial institution group connecting
companies and investors from Asia,
including China and Hong Kong as well as the ASEAN markets with
global capital markets. Its comprehensive one-stop financial
service solutions strategy addresses different clients' diverse and
inter-connected financial needs across all phases of their life
cycles. Leveraging its deep roots in Asia and its unique eco-system — the "AMTD
SpiderNet" — the Company is uniquely positioned as an active
super-connector between clients, business partners, investee
companies, and investors, connecting the East and the West. For
more information, please visit www.amtdinc.com or follow us on
Twitter at "@AMTDGroup." For the Company's announcements, please
visit http://ir.amtdinc.com/News.
About L'Officiel Inc.
L'Officiel (www.lofficiel.com)
is a global fashion media company born in Paris in 1921. As a leading authority in
fashion, beauty, and luxury, the company publishes 33 editions with
distribution in 80 countries. Across platforms, its network engages
nearly 100 million fashion enthusiasts worldwide.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains
statements that may constitute "forward-looking" statements
pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements can be identified by terminology such as "will,"
"expects," "anticipates," "aims," "future," "intends," "plans,"
"believes," "estimates," "likely to," and similar statements.
Statements that are not historical facts, including statements
about the Company's beliefs, plans, and expectations, are
forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve
inherent risks and uncertainties. Further information regarding
these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the
SEC. All information provided in this press release is as of the
date of this press release, and AMTD does not undertake any
obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as
required under applicable law.
Media Contact:
AMTD IR office (ir@amtdinc.com)
AMTD International Inc.
+852 3163-3389
Adriana Stan,
adriana@adrianafstan.com, +1 917-628-0362
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SOURCE AMTD International Inc.
