Authentic Brands Group
OVERALL |
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Owned |
USA |
Rating |
Brand development and licensing
Purchases brands in the sports, celebrity and fashion categories and licenses the intellectual property to leading retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers worldwide. Acquired Juicy Couture in 2013, Tretorn in 2015 and Nautica and Nine West in 2018. Bought Van Heusen, Arrow and Izod from PVH, and Reebok from Adidas in 2021. Acquired Ted Baker in 2022, Boardriders and Rockport in 2023, and Sperry and Champion in 2024. Private equity firms BlackRock, CVC and HPS own significant stakes.
Company Ownership
Authentic Brands Group LLC | USA | website | ||||
BlackRock Inc
owns 30% of Authentic Brands Group LLC |
USA | website | ||||
Asset management World's largest asset manager, with about $7 trillion in assets under management. |
Company Assessment
PRAISE | CRITICISM | INFORMATION | ||
Authentic Brands Group LLC | ||||
The Chinese government has facilitated the mass transfer of Uyghur and other ethnic minority citizens from the far west region of Xinjiang to factories across the country. Under conditions that strongly suggest forced labour, Uyghurs are working in factories that are in the supply chains of international brands, including brands owned by this company.
Source: ITUC (2020)
In 2019 US private equity giant BlackRock bought roughly a 30% stake in this company. BlackRock has several criticisms and an overall Shop Ethical rating of 'F'.
Source: Shop Ethical (2019) |
Company Details
Type | Private company |
Revenue | 489 million USD (2020) |
Subsidiaries | Boardriders Inc
Surfwear and youth clothing Established in Torquay, Australia in 1969, but now based in California, USA. Formerly Quiksilver Inc, the company changed its name to Boardriders Inc in May 2017, and in 2019 it bought struggling Australian surfwear giant Billabong for $200m. Controlled by Oaktree Capital from 2015 until 2023, when Blackrock-controlled Authentic Brands Group took over ownership. Operates over 700 stores in over 30 countries. - Billabong International Ltd Surfwear Founded on Australia's Gold Coast in 1973. After years of struggling financially, Billabong was acquired for $380m by the US company that owns Quiksilver - Quiksilver Australia Pty Ltd Youth clothing Quiksilver was established in Torquay, Australia in 1970. Now based in USA. Volcom Inc Boardsport clothing and footwear Founded by Richard Woolcott and Tucker Hall in 1991. Designer, marketer and distributor of action sports apparel and accessories for young men and women. Acquired by Authentic Brands Group in 2019. - Volcom Australia Pty Ltd Boardsport apparel distributor Australian distributor of Volcom, founded 1995. Reebok Sportswear Global athletic footwear and apparel company founded in 1958. Acquired by Adidas in 2005, who sold it to Authentic Brands Group in 2021. Ted Baker plc Clothing retail London-based fashion retailer founded in Scotland in 1988 and acquired by Authentic Brands Group in 2022. Rockport Group Shoe manufacturer Founded in 1971 and acquired by Reebok in 1986, which became a part of Adidas in 2005. Adidas sold the Rockport business in 2015, and then in 2018 Rockport filed for bankruptcy and was acquired by Charlesbank Capital Partners. Filed for bankruptcy again in 2023 and was subsequently bought by Authentic Brands Group. SPARC Group LLC (33% owned) Retail Joint venture between Simon Property Group, a retail real estate company and Authentic Brands Group, a brand development company. SPARC stands for Simon Property Authentic Retail Concepts. In 2023 Chinese fast fashion company Shein bought a 33% stake. - Forever 21 Inc Youth fashion Founded in California in 1984 by CEO Don Chang and his wife. About 60% of its apparel is manufactured in China. Operates about 500 retail stores around the world. Filed for bankruptcy in 2019 and acquired by Authentic Brands Group, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Property Partners in 2020. Forever 21 entered Australia in 2014, but left in 2017. - Eddie Bauer LLC Clothing retail Acquired in 2021 by SPARC Group, a joint venture between Simon Property Group and Authentic Brands Group. |
Contact Details
Address | New York, New York, USA |
info@authenticbrandsgroup.com | |
Website | www.authentic.com |
Products / Brands
Authentic Brands Group
Airwalk Skate Shoes Arrow Mens Business Shirts Champion Sportswear Champion Sports Shoes Geoffrey Beene Mens Business Shirts Izod Sportswear Juicy Couture Womens Fashion Sperry Mens Shoes Sperry Sports Shoes |
Sperry Womens Shoes Tretorn Womens Shoes Tretorn Mens Shoes Van Heusen Menswear (formal) Van Heusen Mens Business Shirts Vision Street Wear Snow/Skate/Surfwear Volcom Snow/Skate/Surfwear |
Boardriders
Billabong Snow/Skate/Surfwear Billabong Swimwear Billabong Thongs/Sandals DC Snow/Skate/Surfwear DC Skate Shoes Element Snow/Skate/Surfwear Element Skate Shoes Kustom Skate Shoes Kustom Thongs/Sandals |
Quiksilver Menswear (casual) Quiksilver Snow/Skate/Surfwear Quiksilver Swimwear Quiksilver Thongs/Sandals Roxy Snow/Skate/Surfwear Roxy Swimwear RVCA Snow/Skate/Surfwear Xcel Snow/Skate/Surfwear |
Ted Baker
Ted Baker Womens Fashion Ted Baker Menswear (casual) |
Rockport
Rockport Mens Shoes Rockport Womens Shoes |
SPARC (33% owned)
Brooks Brothers Menswear (formal) Lucky Brand Denim Nautica Outdoor Wear |
Forever 21
Forever 21 Youth Fashion
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Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer Outdoor Wear
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