VF Corporation to acquire Supreme

VF Corporation, the parent company of The North Face, Vans, Timberland, Eastpak, Napapijri and Dickies, is adding another brand to its portfolio as it confirms that it is to acquire streetwear brand Supreme in a 2.1 billion dollar deal.

The acquisition VF Corporation states follows a “long-standing relationship” with Supreme, which has had regular collaborations with its Vans, The North Face and Timberland brands.

Current investors, The Carlyle Group and Goode Partners are selling their stakes in the Supreme brand, added VF Corporation. The deal is expected to close before the end of its 2020 fiscal year, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approval.

VF Corporation, a global leader in branded lifestyle apparel, footwear and accessories, added that the acquisition is part of its strategic plans to accelerate its consumer-minded, retail-centric, hyper-digital business model transformation.

Steve Rendle, VF’s chairman, president, and chief executive officer, said in a statement: “We are thrilled to welcome Supreme to the VF family and to build on our decades-long relationship as we create value for all of our stakeholders. VF is the ideal steward to honour the authentic heritage of this cultural lifestyle brand while providing the opportunity to leverage our scale and expertise to enable sustainable long-term growth.”

Streetwear brand Supreme to join the VF Corporation portfolio

The Supreme brand offers a 1 billion US dollar global opportunity over time, added VF, through international and direct-to-consumer expansion, which are core pillars of VF’s 2024 strategy. The acquisition it continued also complements the “street-inspired aspects” of its Vans, The North Face, Timberland and Dickies brands.

Rendle, added: “The acquisition of the Supreme brand is further validation of our vision and strategy to further evolve our portfolio of brands to align with the total addressable market opportunities we see driving the apparel and footwear sector. The Supreme brand will further accelerate VF’s hyper-digital business model transformation and will be a meaningful driver of VF’s commitment to top-quartile total shareholder return and long-term value creation.”

VF added that the business will be “modestly accretive” to its adjusted earnings per share in the fiscal year that ends in April. Next year, Supreme is expected to add at least 500 million US dollars in revenues and 20 cents of adjusted eps to VF’s take.

While the acquisition itself would give Supreme the “opportunities to leverage its global supply chain, international platforms, digital capabilities and consumer understanding,” added VF.

Supreme’s founder, James Jebbia, who has driven the small skatewear brand into a global force, will remain with the company, alongside the rest of the brand’s senior leadership team and will continue to be headquartered in New York City.

“We are proud to join VF, a world-class company that is home to great brands we’ve worked with for years, including The North Face, Vans, and Timberland,” said Jebbia. “This partnership will maintain our unique culture and independence, while allowing us to grow on the same path we’ve been on since 1994.”

VF will give additional details on the deal on a conference call with investors this morning.

Image: courtesy of Supreme