DLA Piper advises Ekornes on significant equity financing

DLA Piper has advised Qumei Runto S.à r.l. (Qumei Runto), a subsidiary of Qumei Home Furnishings Group Co., Ltd., a leading Chinese furniture manufacturer, and holding company of Ekornes AS, the largest furniture producer in Norway, in an equity financing arrangement through which an international institutional investor will provide RMB 200 million in financing. The figure implies a pre-money valuation of Qumei Runto at around RMB4 billion.

Qumei Runto beneficially owns Ekornes AS. Ekornes, headquartered in Sykklven, is the Nordic region’s largest furniture producer. It designs and manufactures furniture products that are marketed under the brand names Stressless®, Svane® and IMG. Ekornes has 19 sales offices in 13 countries, and more than 6,000 retail outlets serving 48 markets worldwide. In recent years, the company has generated sales revenues in excess of NOK 3 billion. It has ten factories located in Norway, the USA, Thailand, Vietnam and Lithuania, and employs around 3,200 people.

DLA Corporate Partner James Chang, who co-led the transaction, commented: "This transaction perfectly demonstrates the strengths of DLA Piper’s global cross-border corporate finance and M&A capabilities, and our ability to marshal top-tier resources from across the globe to serve our clients’ most important needs. This significant deal further complements our strong transaction credentials in the consumer industry sector.”

The DLA Piper team was jointly led by Beijing-based Corporate Partner James Chang and Shanghai-based Corporate Co-Senior Partner in Asia, Qiang Li (LQ). They were supported by Alexander Quan Zhuo, Of Counsel in Hong Kong, and Associates Vera Chen in Beijing, and Qianshan Liu in Shanghai. Xavier Guzman, Corporate Partner, and Guillaume Schaefer, Senior Associate, both based in Luxembourg, provided advice on Luxembourg law. Fredrik Lykke, Corporate Partner in Oslo, provided advice on Norwegian law.