Authentic Brands Group has officially completed its acquisition of the fashion brand Vince.
The company behind dozens of brand and retailer acquisitions first announced in April that it had entered into a deal with Vince Holding Corp. (VNCE) to acquire the intellectual property of the Vince brand.
As part of the agreement, Vince intellectual property now lives under a subsidiary within Authentic called ABG Vince. Authentic owns a 75 percent majority stake of the group (in exchange for $76.5 million) and Vince Holding retained a 25 percent stake.
The two parties also entered into an exclusive long-term agreement, whereby Vince Holding is now the licensing partner for the brand’s core categories and will manage its 60-plus retail stores, wholesale accounts and e-commerce operations. Vince Holding said the license agreement contains an initial 10-year term, plus eight 10-year renewal options.
Established in 2002, Vince is a global luxury apparel, footwear and accessories brand. The company said in April it plans to use the proceeds from the deal to pay off $27.7 million in its term loan credit facility and increase its working capital. It also said it will not undergo any chances to its management or board of directors and will continue to be a publicly traded company.
Vince CEO Jack Schwefel said the new deal with Authentic will give Vince the capital to grow its e-commerce capabilities, expand its international presence, growing its men’s business and open new retail doors in the U.S.
“Through this strategic partnership we will also benefit from leveraging Authentic’s expertise and Lifestyle and Entertainment platforms, which provide opportunities to grow the Vince brand into adjacent categories and territories,” Schwefel said.
For the full year 2022, Vince Holding’s net sales increased 10.8 percent to $357.4 million. Gross profit was $138 million, or 38.6 percent of net sales. Gross margin declined partly due to the company’s decision to wind down its Rebecca Taylor business in September.
