A former senior executive of Esprit Holdings Ltd paid HK$271 million ($35 million) to increase his holding in the fashion retailer to 5.99 percent, according to a disclosure from the Hong Kong bourse on Wednesday.

Michael Ying increased his holding in Esprit to 116.2 million shares as of Nov 7, at an average price of HK$11.669 per share, from 93 million shares or 4.79 percent, according to the disclosure.

Esprit, which competes with the likes of US group GAP Inc and Japan's Fast Retailing Co Ltd, last month proposed a one-for-two rights issue of new shares to existing shareholders to raise up to HK$5.25 billion to help rebuild its brand, which the company last year said had "lost its soul".

Bloomberg - Reuters