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Authentic Brands Group

OVERALL

Owned
USA
Rating
Criticisms

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. Private equity firms BlackRock, CVC and HPS own significant stakes.

Company Ownership

Authentic Brands Group LLC   USA     website   email      
  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.

> About the Ratings

Company Assessment

PRAISE CRITICISM INFORMATION
Authentic Brands Group LLC
Social Forced labour in China
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)
Business Ethics Part owned by BlackRock, which has criticisms
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)

> About the Icons

Company Details

Type Private company
Revenue 489 million USD (2020)
Subsidiaries 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.


SPARC Group LLC (50% 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.


  - 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
Email info@authenticbrandsgroup.com
Website www.authenticbrandsgroup.com

Products / Brands

Authentic Brands Group
Airwalk Skate Shoes
Arrow Mens Business Shirts
Geoffrey Beene Mens Business Shirts
Izod Sportswear
Juicy Couture Womens Fashion
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

Ted Baker
Ted Baker Womens Fashion
Ted Baker Menswear (casual)

SPARC (50% owned)
Brooks Brothers Menswear (formal)
Lucky Brand Denim
Nautica Outdoor Wear

Forever 21
Forever 21 Youth Fashion

Eddie Bauer
Eddie Bauer Outdoor Wear


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