Anta brand CEO Xu Yang has stepped down from his role at the company after leading an ambitious retail expansion outside of China, citing “personal family reasons,” according to a statement released on Wednesday.
The company said that Yang will be reassigned to a new position and executive director and group co-CEO Lai Shixian will take over as interim chief immediately.
Yang had been Anta brand CEO since January 2023 and led an aggressive push to expand the company’s global retail footprint outside its borders, with more than 460 branded stores, including its first U.S. flagship in Beverly Hills that opened earlier this year. And under his leadership, in 2023 Anta pushed past $4 billion in revenue for the first time.
Taking over the namesake brand seemed expected for Yang, who joined the company in 2006 and served a number of roles but had a breakout period in 2019 when he was appointed general manager of Arc’teryx for Greater China, boosting sales to $443 million from $118 million in just under four years.
After a major restructuring effort in 2023, Yang was appointed as Anta’s chief and immediately turned his attention to broadening the brand’s global reach as partnerships with NBA stars Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson turned a newer audience onto the company’s products — and boosted awareness.
But a set of retail formats and sub-brands tapped into a variety of customers as the Anta Champon, Super Anta, SV, Anta Arena, Anta Palance and Anta Zero store concepts targeted affluent buyers, boutique shoppers and those who just sought out the brand’s core products. The bold moves came at the expense of the company making deep investments in the store rollouts but ultimately resonated with consumers domestically.
Still, even with nearly $5 billion in revenue, forecasts expected higher sales, with Anta reached the lower side of the range in 2024, just over $5.1 billion in 2025 while gross margins and operating profit margins were largely flat and took slight declines on single digit growth. Meanwhile, Yang was intent on seeing at least 10 percent annual growth across Anta’s entire portfolio of brands.
Executive director and group co-CEO Lai Shixian will take over as interim chief as Anta’s broader strategy moving forward will remain unchanged.
Anta’s parent company Anta Sports Products Limited in the process of completing a deal to acquire nearly 30 percent of Puma for around $1.8 billion after months of speculation about the fate of the German sportswear maker. The deal would make Anta the largest Puma shareholder and should close by the end of the year.
The brands have already pushed for tighter integration and teamed up in March to develop the next version of Puma’s Nitro performance midsole foam by entering an agreement with Shincell, a longtime Anta partner.
