Chairman Lee Jay-hyun of CJ Group. (Photo: CJ Group)

CJ Group has been stepping up its moves to conclude more M&As after declaring its “Great CJ Vision,” targeting 100 trillion won in annual sales by 2020. The group will target North America, China and Southeast Asia to take over firms to boost its annual sales.
The group is pursuing Studio Moderna in Slovenia, attracted by its growing processes. Having launched its operation as a home shopping firm in 1992, it has now grown to be an omni-channel integrated shopping company. The company added its own brands to its on- and off-line shopping malls.
The sales of offline malls have outstripped those online. The company reported enormous success with the Cosmo Disk, an offline disk treatment equipment. The company followed that up with Dormeo, a kind of sleeping equipment, which was so successful that it’s shipped to foreign markets including the U.S., Canada and Japan.
If successful, CJ Group wants to make the country its sales base for Eastern Europe and a model for its diversification plan to launch the home shopping operation.
If the group fails to take over the omni-channel shopping line, Studio Moderna might turn to a competitive bidding process in which case CJ Group might still have a good chance to make the acquisition.
Since the Slovenian company is not listed, it is not required to announce the vital information on its operation. But IB firms figure its price might be around $500 million based on the figures used when PEFs and VCs bought stakes in the Slovenian company. UBS and Credit Swiss have been co-managers for the sale.
Studio Moderna has been so successful that it now boasts 8 well-selling brands including Delimano for dinnerware and Walkmaxx for footwear.
The company is a leading omnichannel, multi-brand and direct-to-consumer electronic retailer in Central and Eastern Europe, with a vertically-integrated network reaching more than 317 million consumers across 21 countries.
“To bring our brands and products to our loyal and active customer database on 21 markets in Central and Eastern Europe we operate across multiple channels: DRTV & Homeshopping, Retail, Internet, Print, Telemarketing and through Retail partners,” according to the company.
“Today's customers are better informed and more demanding shoppers than ever, and they rarely depend on single channel. They buy products they want through the channels they prefer.
“We understand that, giving our customers choice and convenience of multiple shopping possibilities.”
Brands Dormeo, Delimano, Walkmaxx, Top Shop, Rovus, Wellneo, LiveActive, Kosmodisk, Pink Panda are well-known, trusted and enjoyable international brands, present on the markets around the world, the company said.
“Thanks to our advanced omnichannel marketing platform and technologies we've been able to assure seamless user experience, mobile/tablet friendly websites and consistent customer experiences across all channels,” the company said. “We have the omnichannel philosophy incorporated not only in our marketing and sales activities, but also in customer care & service, product development, sourcing & selection, delivery, logistics & fulfillment and more.
“We carefully listen to what our customers have to say at all stages of the customer journey on any of our sales channels, and use their feedback to constantly improve our business.”