Cheil Industries to sell fashion business to Everland

Cheil Industries Inc., an apparel maker under Samsung Group, will sell its fashion sector to the amusement park arm of the group, the company said Monday, in a bid to focus on its material businesses. Cheil Industries said its board of directors agreed to transfer the firm's fashion business to Samsung Everland Inc., the de facto holding company of Samsung Group, by Dec. 1. The top fashion and textile firm said the move came in line with the company's vision to foster its material and chemical business to gain global competitiveness. The deal is estimated at 1.5 trillion won (US$1.39 billion). "The deal represents our willingness to become a leading materials firm by focusing only on core businesses," a company official said. Cheil Industries earns around 43 percent of its sales from its chemical business and 26 percent from its electronic materials arm. Cheil Industries has a number of its own fashion brands, such as the casual line Bean Pole and Galaxy menswear. In 2011, it also purchased Italian luxury fashion brand Colombo Via Della Spiga, which is famous for premium leather handbags and wallets.