Dive Brief:
- Authentic Brands Group has partnered with Liberated Brands for the U.S. and Canada retail and e-commerce operations for brands it acquired through its deal with Boardriders, the company announced Wednesday.
- The Boardriders acquisition closed earlier this month, giving Authentic ownership of Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, RVCA, Honolua and Boardriders, among other brands. Under its new long-term agreement with Authentic, Liberated will become the license partner and wholesale distributor for Billabong, RVCA and Honolua in the U.S. and Canada.
- Authentic is a minority owner of Liberated, and the new partnership builds on a pre-existing relationship between both companies.
Dive Insight:
Liberated is the core licensee and operator of Authentic-owned outdoor sports brands Volcom and Spyder. Authentic transitioned the license of Spyder to Liberated in 2021.
Nick Woodhouse, president and chief marketing officer at Authentic, said in the release that Liberated’s focus on the growth of Volcom and Spyder bears testimony to its potential as a strong partner to take on Billabong, RVCA and Honolua, as well as “the retail operations for the best lifestyle brands inspired by skate, surf and snow.”
Woodhouse added that the company intends to implement a “strategic vision for growth” and strengthen the brands’ footprints across the US and Canada.
Authentic said it would announce additional partnerships for Boardriders brands in the coming months to “leverage its proprietary platform and expertise to expand the brands across categories and territories.”
The Boardriders portfolio contains more than 500 owned retail stores, 7,000 wholesale accounts and e-commerce channels across 35 countries, Fashion Dive previously reported. This portfolio generates about $2.9 billion in revenue each year.
Authentic, which owns more than 50 lifestyle, entertainment and media brands, has been on a recent acquisition streak in the apparel and footwear categories. Earlier this year, the New York-based company announced its purchase of intellectual property assets of the Vince brand and those of Hunter Boots. It also announced it was buying Rockport out of bankruptcy.
One of its joint ventures, Sparc Group, inked a deal last month with fast fashion giant Shein for the Forever 21 business. Through that transaction, the fast fashion rivals will distribute each other’s products across both companies’ retail and e-commerce channels.
Authentic is also the owner of Eddie Bauer, Frye, Reebok and Nautica.
