Global companies are seeking private equity partners in China to take on their local operations as they grapple with an increasingly competitive local market, a sluggish economy and volatile US-China relations.
The owners of sports retailer Decathlon, ice cream brand H?agen-Dazs, coffee houses Peet’s and Costa, convenience store operator Lawson and GE HealthCare are all weighing options for their China operations, including selling parts or all of their businesses, said people familiar with their thinking.
The rush to rethink China comes amid whiplashing relations with the US, the slowing of the world’s second-largest economy and the rise of fast-moving and better-adapted local rivals across a swath of industries.