Cheng family seeks to oust Giordano boss

Shares of Giordano International (0709) fell as much as 7.4 percent yesterday morning, the most in almost a month, as the family of Hong Kong's third-richest person is seeking to remove Peter Lau Kwok-kuen from his role as chief executive of the apparel retailer following a failed attempt to acquire the clothing company two years ago.

The family of Henry Cheng Kar-shun, Giordano's top shareholder with a stake of about 24.1 percent, wants to appoint Colin Currie, whose previous roles include China managing director of Adidas AG, to the job, according to a stock exchange filing Monday.

They also want to appoint two of Cheng's children, Sonia Cheng Chi-man and Christopher Cheng Chi-leong, as non-executive directors of the board.

The Giordano board is seeking legal advice on appropriate follow-up actions, the firm said.

Giordano has long been in the sights of the Cheng family. In 2022, they offered to buy the remaining shares of the retailer for a maximum cash consideration of HK$2.56 billion, but the deal failed when less than half of the company's shareholders approved it. Local media including HK01 reported at the time that Lau, who's also Giordano's chairman and a significant shareholder, said he rejected the deal because he wasn't in need of cash.

Separately, the Hong Kong-based clothing giant Esprit (0330) expects its net loss last year to widen by 186 percent to HK$1.9 billion dragged down by the unfavorable macroeconomic environment in Europe, where the group mainly operates.