VF Acquires Two New Brands
GREENSBORO, N.C. – VF Corporation announced its acquisition of the Los Angeles premium denim company Seven For All Mankind and the Portland, Oregon women’s clothing company Lucy Activewear, Inc. yesterday.
Although Seven For All Mankind is an obvious fit for VF’s large Jeanswear division, and Lucy for its Sportswear divison, the two brands will form the beginning of VF Contemporary Brands. The division to be headed by Mike Egeck, who will also remain CEO of Seven For All Mankind. Egeck is relatively new to Seven For All Mankind, having started as CEO barely a year ago, but he’s no stranger to VF – he served as its president in charge of the Outdoor-Americas division as recently as early 2006.
“The acquisition of these high growth, high potential brands marks another milestone in the continuing success of our growth plan,” VF’s CEO Mackey J. McDonald said in a statement. “These brands extend our reach to important and growing consumer segments, broaden our presence in healthy and growing channels of distribution, provide us with additional vehicles to expand our direct-to-consumer business through owned retail stores and online sales and offer the potential for continued growth internationally.”
Seven For All Mankind was founded in 2000, and is expected to ride the premium jeans trend to $300 million in annual revenue this year. VF will pay $775 million for the company.
Lucy Activewear is sold online and through 50 Lucy retail stores, projecting $57 million in revenue. VF agreed to pay $110 million for the company. Lucy’s CEO Mike Edwards will continue in that capacity from the company’s Oregon headquarters, reporting to Contemporary Brands head Egeck.
VF’s brands include Jansport, John Varvatos, Lee, Nautica, The North Face, Red Kap, Reef, Vans, and Wrangler.
