New York based BlackRock reportedly announced that it has recently sealed a deal to become the largest investor of Authentic Brands by acquiring over 30 percent stake in the deal for over USD 875 million.
For the uninitiated, Authentic Brands, formed in 2010, is the celebrity and clothing licensing group and holds the brand rights to Marilyn Monroe and Muhammad Ali. The company owns over more than 50 sports, entertainment, clothing and consumer brands with the brands appealing to the celebrities like Elvis Presley, Shaquille O’Neal, and others. Additionally, the group also owns Aeropostale, Juicy Couture, Herve Leger, and many more.
As per trusted reports, the acquisition followed months after the investment giant raised over USD 2.75 billion for Long Term Private Capital. Meanwhile, the current deal values the brand management company around USD 4 billion to USD 4.5 billion, including debt.
Reportedly, Jamie Salter, the CEO of Authentic Brands Group is said to still control over 20 per cent of the group even after selling it to BlackRock. As per Salter, the deal is expected to provide the group with an additional capital to raise its marketing business.
It has been claimed that Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and Jasper Ridge Partners also contributed about USD 150 million and USD 80 million respectively to the deal.
As per sources with knowledge on the matter, Authentic Brands licenses over 50 brands that combinedly generates an annual revenue of USD 9.3 billion in annual retail sales. With this deal, BlackRock has been claimed to be the group's largest shareholder.
For the records, found in 1988 with headquarters in New York, BlackRock is an American investment management giant which is considered to be the world's largest asset manager with over USD 6.84 trillion assets under management.
Source credit: https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/11/blackrock-now-has-the-biggest-slice-of-sports-illustrated-owner-authentic-brands.html