The Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC), in its judgement dated Oct. 21, upheld an arbitration award for ONI Global Pte. Ltd. and LAC Global (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. to assign to GNC store leases previously operated by ONI/LAC Global as GNC franchise stores.
GNC’s former franchisee, ONI Global Pte. Ltd. and LAC Global (Singapore), have appealed the court’s decision, while continuing to operate these stores in the meantime.
GNC, on the other hand, believes that the rulings have established a clear framework for potential next steps.
“The SICC’s decision helps eliminate confusion and ensures consumers can confidently access authentic, science‑backed GNC products,” said Cheri Mullen, senior vice president and chief international officer at GNC.
A spokesperson from GNC said that the company would evaluate the store leases, while continuing its operations in Singapore via health and beauty retailer Watsons.
“We welcome the SICC’s decision, which affirms GNC’s rights regarding former franchise store leases and upholds the enforcement of the arbitration award,” the spokesperson told NI.
“The arbitration award outlines specific obligations for the former franchisee regarding the lease agreements. GNC will continue to evaluate the store leases while the ruling is under appeal.
“We will continue to evaluate the situation, but for now, no changes have been made to our current operations in Singapore.”
In September, GNC also announced that its products were available in all Watsons Singapore outlets and clarified that the GNC brand was entirely different from LAC.
GNC had been operating 54 stores in Singapore via its former franchise ONI Global up until 2022, when the latter rebranded the stores to LAC.
LAC is operated by V3 Brands—a part of V3 Group led by Founder and Executive Chairman Ron Sim. Other V3 Brands include TWG Tea and BACHA Coffee.
ONI Global was also GNC’s franchise in other Asian markets like the Philippines, Malaysia and Taiwan.
Timeline
According to SICC’ judgement, both GNC and ONI Global had enjoyed a harmonious relationship until around 2020, when GNC came under new ownership and sought protection for its financial difficulties under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code 11 USC.
“It appears that from about this time or soon afterwards, the relationship between the Franchisee and Franchisor in relation to the businesses in Asia deteriorated, with a breakdown of trust and co-operation and mutual allegations of breach of contract,” the judgement stated.
Senior leadership of ONI Global, for instance, had believed that GNC had wished to remove it from the franchise and felt that trust had broken down.
Around September 2021, ONI Global together with its related company began preparing to rebrand its 54 Singapore retail outlets with its own new marks and brands to replace those of GNC.
