Steve Madden expands portfolio

Bakers Footwear Group announced last week that Steve Madden Ltd would purchase its

Wild Pair trademark for up to $4 million. Under the agreement, Steven Madden and Bakers entered into ‘a non-exclusive, non-transferable, royalty free perpetual license for the marks’ allowing Bakers to continue to offer Wild Pair footwear in its stores, e-commerce and Wild Pair retail stores.

It is reported that the net proceeds to Bakers are estimated to be between $3.3 million and $3.9 million, which will ease the company’s financials as it lost $10.2 million in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $8.9 million in the third quarter of 2010.

“We are pleased to continue the growth of the Wild Pair brand with this transaction,” said Peter Edison, Chairman and CEO at Bakers. “Wild Pair, an iconic label known for its sexy, fashion footwear with a 39-year heritage and a highly loyal following has tremendous potential and we believe Steve Madden is the best possible company to take advantage of the significant opportunity that exists to broaden the appeal and reach of the Wild Pair label.”

“We are pleased to once again expand our diversified portfolio of brands with the addition of Wild Pair,” said Edward Rosenfeld, Steve Madden’s Chairman and CEO. “We look forward to broadening the distribution and reach of the brand while maintaining the brand DNA that has made Wild Pair successful for almost 40 years.”

In addition, Bakers said in a regulatory filing that it also agreed to sell certain other property to Steven Madden for $500,000, but didn't identify the property.