by The Editors on May 29, 2019
It’s official, Jamie Slater and his Authentic Brands Group of zombie brands (which now include Volcom, Airwalk, Vision Street Wear, and 47 others) has purchased the softcore skin and sports magazine brand Sports Illustrated from Meredith Corp for $110 million dollars, according to a story on Variety.com.
Under terms of the deal, Authentic Brands acquires the rights to market, develop and license Sports Illustrated and its kids’ edition as well as its swimsuit and “Sportsperson of the Year” franchises, along with the magazine’s photo archive. Meredith will pay a licensing fee to operate the editorial operations of Sports Illustrated in print and in digital for a minimum of two years. Editor Chris Stone and Publisher Danny Lee will continue to lead Sports Illustrated at Meredith.
So, Meredith is selling the brand and then paying to run the print magazine into the ground while ABG gets to re-animate Sports Illustrated by slapping it on all kinds of products until no one remembers what SI was all about in the first place. Chalk that up as another win-win for ABG.
[Link: Variety]
by The Editors on April 2, 2019
It’s hard to believe, but it appears that eventually every dead fashion brand ends up in Jamie Salter’s hands. So it should be no surprise that he was able to add Volcom to his arsenal of 50 zombie brands which also includes Airwalk and Vision Street Wear.
“We are thrilled to have completed the purchase of Volcom,” said Jamie Salter, Chairman and CEO of ABG. “For nearly three decades the Volcom family has created one of the most iconic brands in the skate, surf and snow markets. During the last few years, the brand has been consistently gaining traction with broader audiences around the world while staying true to its core. We could not be happier to finally get to work with this team.”
Yes, this is an over-simplification of the deal which includes the creation of a new operating group run by Todd Hymel and the current Volcom management of which ABG is a minority partner, but hey at least Vee-Co is out from under the French and zombie brands live forever.
For the official word and no mention of how much ABG paid for Volcom (last time it sold for $607 million, this time we’re guessing much, much, much less) please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on November 13, 2018
Zombie brand extraordinaire, Airwalk, is hoping to ride the 90s wave of nostalgia right back to the top of the footwear game with the launch their latest “global ad campaign,” according to current owner Authentic Brands Group (Jamie Salter is the CEO, remember him?) The new campaign is titled Teen Spirit. Can you smell it? Here’s how they pitch it.
Returning to the brand’s roots, the 2018 campaign embraces the spirit of the Southern California teen that established Airwalk’s place in 90s culture. It gives consumers a candid look into the individuality, self-expression, and free-spirit that has shaped Airwalk’s identity for more than 30 years. . . .The campaign features The One, the Bloc, the Random, the Jim Lo, the Vic, and the Prototype. This assortment highlights Airwalk’s best sellers and a peek into what’s to come for the brand.
This just makes us miss footwear marketing/design genius Sinisa Egelja all the more. Hard to believe it has been nine years since his death on October 26, 2009. For the official word from Authentic Brand Group (which also owns Vision Street Wear), please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on September 3, 2015
Quiksilver is reportedly in a last ditch effort to find someone to buy them and bail them out the hole they’ve found themselves in for the past three years, according to a story on BloombergBusiness.
Quiksilver has been holding discussions with potential strategic bidders, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the process isn’t public. The goal is a management-led buyout, ideally outside of a bankruptcy, that would let the company retain its stores, two of the people said.
News of the discussions sent the stock rocketing up 7.9% to a whopping 45 cents at the close! The most interesting aspect to some of our readers may be that the lead company mentioned as Quik’s savior is Jamie Salter’s (remarkably successful) zombie brand holding company Authentic Brands Group. Yep, Quiksilver would likely fit in quite nicely with Airwalk, Vision Streetwear, and Sansabelt.
[Link: Bloomberg]
by The Editors on September 30, 2010
Remember Tim Pogue? He worked at Burton in the early 90s and then joined Jamie Salter to launch and subsequently take Ride Snowboards public back in May of 1994. After exiting Ride Tim launched a retail store and denim line in Seattle called Faction.
After Faction went south he sort of drifted off our radar. Apparently, he’s now the Chief Marketing Officer at Jamie Salter and Kenny Finkelstein’s Authentic Brands Group. They’re the new owners of both the ass-kicking “bad for the sport” MMA clothing brand TapouT and the mellow Bob Marley brand (which recently collabed with Burton on a snowboard).
The only reason we’re mentioning this is that Pogue was interviewed on FightHype.com regarding TapouT and Authentic Brands Group’s plans for the brand and we thought what he had to say was interesting:
We’re recreating a similar structure that Jamie and I built while we ran Ride Snowboards; a tiered branded strategy. At Ride, we had incredible demand for that brand, which is great, but if you sell your brand to every level of distribution, you won’t last long. So we started several other brands and even bought a few more to target certain levels of distribution to keep each brand clean. That’s what we’re doing here. . . TapouT is all about respect, discipline and the will and desire to train to be the best. We’re not afraid to say that we’re going right after Under Armour and Nike.
While we have absolutely no interest in MMA or MMA fashion, we’re glad to see that Tim is still hard at it.
[Link: Fight Hype]
by The Editors on June 2, 2010
It’s been quite a while since we’ve mentioned Jamie Salter, but the guy who took snowboarding public on May 6, 1994 (when Ride Snowboards hit the NASDAQ) is still going strong with his company Authentic Brands Group, LLC.
In fact, he just landed a “$250 million equity capital raise with Green Equity Investors V, L.P an affiliate of Leonard Green & Partners, L.P. (“LGP”), Knight’s Bridge Capital Partners Inc. (“Knight’s Bridge”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Counsel Corporation,” according to news released today.
The deal reportedly brings him back together with former Gen-X partner Kenneth Finkelstein. Together the two owned, operated, and/or were closely involved with Ride Snowboards, Airwalk, Sims, Duffs, and a host of other second tier action brands like Lamar, LTD Snowboards etc. Finkelstein’s Knight’s Bridge Capital currently owns the Poloroid brand.
“I am very excited to embark on this new venture with my partners at LGP and Knight’s Bridge. LGP is among the world’s most experienced private equity investors in the retail and branded consumer products industries and Knight’s Bridge will provide its own exceptional investment and brand licensing expertise,” Mr. Salter said. “Our collective experiences will enable Authentic Brands Group to acquire and grow a global portfolio of world renowned brands.”
Currently ABG manages the Bob Marley brand and is looking to “actively acquire and manage iconic consumer brands in the apparel, sporting goods, action sports, home, celebrity, entertainment and consumer electronics segments.” That $250 million war chest can’t hurt. Wonder who they’re going to buy first?
Follow the jump for the entire release
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