Cheil Industries, Samsung’s de facto holding company, had a wildly successful IPO this week. Cheil more than doubled its market capitalization as it raised 1.52 trillion won ($1.38 billion). So what does Cheil Industries do or sell? It started out in 1954 as a Korean textile company best known for its wool.
Since the 1980s, in addition to expanding into the chemicals and electronic chemical materials sectors, the company has launched a number of fashion lines including 8seconds. It’s slogan is “Cheaper than Zara, trendier than Uniqlo.” The story behind the name is to “express its confidence in captivating customers in eight seconds.” Cheil plans to enter China in early 2015.
