VF Corporation has decided Supreme isn’t so supreme after all. The American global apparel and footwear company—which currently owns 13 notable brands, such as the North Face , Timberland, and Vans—is selling the famous streetwear label to French-Italian eyewear maker EssilorLuxottica for $1.5 billion in cash, according to a joint statement shared Wednesday.
VF bought Supreme in 2020 for $2.1 billion, though the company has recently been looking to offload brands to counter a downturn in profits and an uptick in debt. “While we will always look to adjust the VF portfolio from time to time, this transaction gives us increased balance sheet flexibility,” VF president and CEO Bracken Darrell said.
“It also supports our overall program to better position the company for long-term growth and more normalized debt levels.” Darrell pointed out that VF helped Supreme strengthen its presence in the key markets of China and South Korea over the past four years, enabling the label to return to delivering “strong growth.” The brand did lose over $38 million in revenue in 2022, though.
Darrell added that a strategic portfolio review concluded there were “limited synergies” between Supreme and VF, making a sale a natural next step. The deal may have been somewhat expected, but the buyer is quite the opposite. EssilorLuxottica has historically focused on eyewear, with a huge 150-strong portfolio that includes Ray-Ban, Oakley, Barberini, and the like.
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