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- Exclusive-Pandora exploring ways to restructure struggling China business, sources say</p>
<p>Casey HallJuly 11, 2025 at 2:37 AM</p>
<p>By Casey Hall</p>
<p>SHANGHAI (Reuters) -</p>
<p>Danish jewellery maker Pandora is exploring ways to restructure its business in China, said two people familiar with the matter, after years of plunging sales both online and off.</p>
<p>The world's largest jeweller by volume of pieces sold is in discussion with China-based funds and e-commerce partners to potentially license its brand and all of its assets, including existing inventory, for five years, said one of the people.</p>
<p>Pandora, like many consumer-facing multinational companies operating in the world's second-largest economy after the U.S., has been hit hard by post-pandemic consumer malaise, exacerbated by a property crisis that has rippled through the economy.</p>
<p>It has also had to contend with competition from local, digital-savvy brands in a crowded e-commerce space as well as a shift in consumer preference to gold and high-value jewellery.</p>
<p>Pandora, in a statement to Reuters, said it recognised the need to reposition its brand in China and was working on a turnaround, saying "it will take time". It did not address specific questions about possible restructuring in the country.</p>
<p>"China is the biggest jewellery market in the world, and we remain fully committed to the business there," Pandora said.</p>
<p>Pandora's China revenue tumbled nearly 80% to 416 million Danish crowns ($65.10 million) in 2024 from 1.97 billion crowns in 2019, with the country's revenue contribution slumping to around 1% from 11% over that period, exchange filings showed.</p>
<p>The China business has had three chiefs since 2022. Current managing director Thomas Knudsen started in January, soon after which Pandora said it would close 50 China stores this year.</p>
<p>Finding a stakeholder or licence partner could be "difficult" given the trends in performance and broader consumer headwind, said Jonathan Yan, a principal at consultancy Roland Berger in Shanghai.</p>
<p>"I don't think financial investors are going to be interested in this asset," Yan said. E-commerce partner firms looking into higher-margin brand ownership "may be interested".</p>
<p>A model for such a deal could be the sale of U.S. apparel retailer Gap's China business to Baozun, one of China's biggest e-commerce partner firms, for $40 million to $50 million in 2022.</p>
<p>Reuters was not able to determine the value for the potential Pandora deal.</p>
<p>Pandora's e-commerce business has seen sales slide more dramatically than at physical stores, said a person with knowledge of its China business, who was not authorised to speak to media on the matter so declined to be identified.</p>
<p>A takeover by an operator who knows how to compete in Chinese e-commerce would therefore be positive though any turnaround will be costly to whoever foots the bill, said Yan.</p>
<p>"They will need to burn money and have a very innovative, approach, and even then it won't be easy," he said.</p>
<p>($1 = 6.3902 Danish crowns)</p>
<p>(Reporting by Casey Hall in Shanghai; Additional reporting by Helen Reid in London; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Christopher Cushing)</p>
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