The Danish company announced its distribution rights with Carrera Corporation would end after eight years, with Pandora acquiring Carrera’s store network in the region, effective 1 January 2019.
The agreement will result in the opening of five concept stores that are set to employ 100 new staff. Affected regions will span Greater China, taking in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Pandora’s Asia Pacific president Kenneth Madsen said the expansion in Taiwan was part of the company’s growth and development strategy for the region, where it has been offering its brand since 2010.
"For many years Taiwan has been an important market for us. Pandora is a leader in the jewellery segment amongst the Taiwanese consumers, and we see attractive expansion opportunities. Having complete ownership in Greater China will support our growth and development strategy in the entire Asia Pacific region,” Madsen said.
Pandora will pay approximately HKD120 million (AU$21.29m) in cash for the assets. The sell-out revenue in Taiwan was HKD240 million (AU$ 42.57m) in 2017.
The announcement came three weeks after Pandora CEO and president Anders Colding Friis gave notice of his resignation, which immediately followed the company’s statement that it would cut 400 jobs in Thailand. The two events were the immediate result of modest revenue forecasts in which Pandora had to re-evaluate its increases at 4-7 per cent rather than the previously calculated 7-10 per cent.
In June, Pandora announced it would cease distribution of its brand to an estimated 100 Australian and New Zealand stores. In 2016, Pandora closed more than 500 accounts in the US and Canada.
Jeremy Schwartz, former chief executive of the Body Shop, stepped into the acting CEO role at Pandora on 1 September.
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