Authentic Brands Group is considering buying Brooks Brothers. Here are the other dead brands the company has bought up this year.

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Authentic Brands Group is considering buying Brooks Brothers. Here are the other dead brands the company has bought up this year.
A pedestrian wearing a mask walks past a Brooks Brothers storefront closed during the COVID-19 crisis on May 06, 2020 in Vancouver, Canada.Andrew Chin/Getty Images
  • Authentic Brands Group, a retail management company, is considering buying Brooks Brothers, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Wednesday.
  • "Brooks Brothers is a global brand. I am looking at it from a global standpoint," the Chief Executive of ABG told CNBC in June.
  • ABG has purchased other bankrupt retail brands like Lucky Brand, Aeropostale, Forever 21, and Barneys in recent years. Since March, it's also expressed interest in purchasing J.C. Penney.
  • ABG has partnered with major mall owners Simon and Brookfield to acquire some brands.
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Authentic Brands Group is considering purchasing Brooks Brothers, The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday. The suiting brand filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday and is the latest struggling retailer that ABG has expressed interest in scooping up during the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced many retailers into bankruptcy or liquidation.

"Brooks Brothers is a global brand. I am looking at it from a global standpoint," Jamie Salter, Chief Executive of ABG, told CNBC in June before Brooks Brothers had officially announced they were filing for bankruptcy.

ABG is a brand management company that has made a business of acquiring bankrupt and struggling brands over the years. They bought velour tracksuit maker Juicy Couture in 2013, tween mall staple Aeropostale in 2016, and high-end department store Barneys New York in late 2019. They also acquired the embattled magazine title Sports Illustrated from Meredith Corp. in 2019. When the pandemic hit the U.S. earlier in 2020, ABG saw an opportunity to save well-known retail brands that were struggling.

In the same interview with CNBC, Salter explained his interest in these failing retailers: "My strategy is simple. Buy low, sell high."

ABG has partnered with major mall brands Simon and Brookfield for the purchases of Aeropostale and Forever 21. Together, ABG and Simon own SPARC Group, which is "an operating partner to global brands, providing retail and ecommerce management, sourcing, design and other operational and administrative support," per the Aeropostale LinkedIn page. SPARC Group purchased Lucky Brand on July 3.

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Here's a list of all the dead retail brands that ABG has purchased or is considering buying since the start of the year.

Brooks Brothers: The suiting brand filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday, July 10. ABG and WHP Global Inc., another brand management company, are both interested in the sale.

Lucky Brand: SPARC Group (an entity formed between ABG and Simon) purchased Lucky Brand on July 3.

J.C. Penney: ABG expressed interest in teaming up with major mall owners Brookfield and Simon to purchase the department store in June this year, according to Bloomberg. The three companies worked together previously to purchase Forever 21 and Aeropostale.

Forever 21: In February 2020, ABG, Simon, and Brookfield officially closed on a purchase of Forever 21 in which ABG and Simon own 37.5 percent of the company, and Simon owns 25 percent.

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Authentic Brands also acquired well-known retail brands in recent years, such as Nine West, Frye, Vince Camuto, Nautica, and Volcom. With over 50 brands in its portfolio, ABG is the second-largest brand management company in the world after Walt Disney, according to Adweek.

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