[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunseok Yoo] Bucket Studio has laid the foundation for the growth of its live shopping business by acquiring General Idea, which ranks first in sales on Naver Live Shopping.
On the 4th, Bucket Studio announced that it will invest in GI Holdings, the operator of the clothing brand "General Idea" led by fashion designer Beomseok Choi.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure, on the same day, Bucket Studio signed a third-party allotment paid-in capital increase contract to acquire 140,600 new shares of GI Holdings worth approximately 5 billion KRW, securing a 50.11% stake and becoming the largest shareholder.
GI Holdings operates the unisex casual brand "General Idea," which ranks first in sales on Naver Live Shopping. General Idea is a clothing brand directly developed by designer Beomseok Choi. After launching as a menswear brand, it added a unisex line and adopted a distribution strategy including a full transition to e-commerce, achieving a record-breaking 837% sales growth last year compared to 2018.
Beomseok Choi, the designer and CEO of the brand, not only designs all products himself but also appears on live broadcasts to communicate with customers and enhance brand trust. In fact, a live broadcast featuring designer Beomseok Choi attracted 62,000 viewers and recorded sales exceeding 300 million KRW. Additionally, the brand is well-known for being favored by various famous domestic actors, singers, and models.
Bucket Studio stated that it decided on this acquisition due to the growth potential and value of GI Holdings. A Bucket Studio representative said, "GI Holdings' 'General Idea' is a first-generation live commerce company that combines planning, manpower, operational management, and execution capabilities, running on a growth trajectory." He added, "In particular, live commerce sales featuring designer Beomseok Choi and staff reached 6.1 billion KRW as of the third quarter last year, and it is expected to grow more than threefold this year."
He continued, "Going forward, we plan to advance the live commerce market, which exceeds 10 trillion KRW in scale, together with General Idea, providing various creators and categories centered on designer Beomseok Choi." He added, "We will offer this as a new multi-platform service and aim to grow overseas sales through global live commerce sales."
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