Pic: Shutterstock
Sri Lanka’s Hela Clothing has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Ethiopia’s Sumbiri Intimates Apparel PLC from Indonesian owner Sumber Bintang Rejeki, and has formed a new joint venture (JV) in East Africa, called Sumbiri Hela Intimates PLC, to manufacture bra and intimate products out of the Hawassa Industrial Park in the southern part of the country.
The joint operation, which at full scale will employ over 3,000, will raise its capacity to produce close to 1,000,000 pieces a month from 250,000 units now.
This will make it one of the largest bra manufacturing facilities in the world with duty free access to the United States, Canada, the European Union and most parts of developed Asia, including China, according to a report in a Sri Lankan newspaper.
The over 100,000 square foot plant will represent Hela’s first foray into bra manufacturing and has already lined up the world’s largest intimates brands—PVH-owned Calvin Klein and Warners and Berkshire Hathaway-owned Vanity Fair—as its anchor customers.
Sumber Bintang Rejeki was established in Indonesia in 1985 by founder Michael Lee and forms part of the Sumbiri Group of companies, including Winnersumbiri, a warp and circular knit factory located in Indonesia.
It is a one-stop solution provider for women’s underwear, lingerie and accessories with shapewear as its strongest product segment. It has three factories in Indonesia, Myanmar and Ethiopia.
Fibre2Fashion News Desk (DS)
Sri Lanka's Hela Clothing has acquired a 50 per cent stake in Ethiopia's Sumbiri Intimates Apparel PLC from Indonesian owner Sumber Bintang Rejeki, and has formed a new joint venture in East Africa, called Sumbiri Hela Intimates PLC, to manufacture bra and intimate products out of the Hawassa Industrial Park in the southern part of the country.