Authentic reveals major partnership with Baozun for its Hunter buy

British boot brand Hunter’s new owner Authentic Brands Group (Authentic) hasn’t been slow in striking deals for the label’s future and on Monday announced another major one for key Asian markets, this time with Baozun.

Through a newly formed Authentic subsidiary — ABG Hunter LLC — Baozun and Authentic will run the business in the region as a joint venture.

Baozun is a brand e-commerce service, brand management, and digital commerce service company, and has taken a 51% equity interest in Hunter in Greater China and Southeast Asia.

Authentic had already named The Batra Group and Marc Fisher Footwear as the brand’s “core partners in key regions”. UK-based Batra is the core licensee in the UK and mainland Europe. And US-based Marc Fisher is handling that market.

That left the important Asian market and Jamie Salter, founder, Chairman and CEO of Authentic, said the “strategic move is in line with our strategy to think global and act local. By partnering with Baozun, a leader in digital and e-commerce experiences in China and Southeast Asia, we are able to combine our expertise in brand management with their deep understanding of the local market nuances and cultural trends”.

The two partners have also entered “an exclusive, long-term license agreement” through which Baozun will design, manufacture, market and distribute Hunter brand products in Greater China. The license agreement will be assigned by ABG Hunter LLC to Hunter IP Holdco as the licensor across the region.

It follows the pattern seen with other Authentic acquisitions in which such functions are assigned to specialist local businesses. 

For instance, Authentic completed its Ted Baker buy last autumn and this spring it named OSL as its key partner to run Ted Baker retail, wholesale and e-commerce across North America.

Then in April, it announced more new partners with PDS establishing the Ted Baker Design Group (TDG) as the brand’s global hub for design and innovation, while AARC became the distribution partner for the UK and Europe. And in May, Aldo won the brand’s footwear license.