lululemon athletica Expands Into Asia by Partnering with Descente

On Monday October 2, 2006 Vancouver-based lululemon athletica inc. and Japanese athletic apparel company, Descente Ltd., entered into a joint venture to open 20 stores in Japan by 2010 through a newly formed company, “lululemon Japan Inc.” lululemon athletica will own a majority stake in the joint venture, and Descente will hold the remainder.

Yoga-inspired athletic apparel company lululemon athletica was founded in 1998 in Kitsilano, Vancouver.

lululemon was represented by Farris, Vaughan, Wills & Murphy LLP with a team consisting of Bradley A. Newby and James P. Hatton with assistance from Alvin Shiozaki and Yuko Yamamoto of Asahi Koma Law Office, Tokyo, on Japanese legal issues.

Descente was represented by in-house counsel Mikio Nakajima and outside counsel Sumiko Kayano of Kuroda Law Offices, Tokyo.