The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
NEW YORK, United States — Fifth & Pacific Cos. agreed to sell its Lucky Brand Jeans division to private-equity firm Leonard Green & Partners LP for $225 million, part of a plan to divest assets and focus on the Kate Spade label.
The deal includes $140 million in cash and $85 million in a three-year seller note. Together with the November sale of Juicy Couture ’s intellectual property, net proceeds will reach as much as $380 million, New York-based Fifth & Pacific said today in a statement.
Fifth & Pacific, formerly Liz Claiborne Inc., changed its name last year after selling the namesake brand to J.C. Penney Co. Chief Executive Officer William McComb has trimmed the company's portfolio from more than 30 brands when he started in 2006. After the Lucky Brand sale, just two -- Kate Spade and the Adelington Design Group jewelry line -- will remain.
Shares of Fifth & Pacific declined 1.1 percent to $33.12 yesterday in New York. The stock had more than doubled this year, compared with a 27 percent gain for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.
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Leonard Green, based in Los Angeles, owns stakes in other specialty retailers, including J. Crew Group Inc. and Sports Authority Inc.
Lucky Brand, founded in Los Angeles in 1990, has been revitalized in recent years by Chief Executive Officer David DeMattei, who was hired from Williams-Sonoma Inc. He built fashions and accessories around the denim line and added skinny stretch jeans to appeal to women.
Fifth & Pacific operated 239 Lucky Brand stores at the end of September. The label generated sales of $346.4 million and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization of $14.3 million in the nine months through September. The brand accounted for 29 percent of Fifth & Pacific’s sales during that period while Kate Spade is the largest portion at 41 percent.
The $225 million purchase price represents multiple of more than seven times its trailing 12-month Ebitda, according to today’s statement.
By Matt Townsend; Editors: James Callan, Cecile Daurat, Robin Ajello
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