WHP Global Expands Denim Empire With G-Star Raw
WHP Global is digging deeper into the denim space.
The brand management firm on Tuesday said it will acquire a majority interest in the G-Star Raw brand. As is customary with brand management firms, the transaction will see WHP grow the label both globally and through new product categories. The transaction follows the successful transition of the denim brand as an online-first company.
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Existing shareholders, including founder Jos van Tilburg, will retain a stake in the brand. And G-Star’s current leadership team, led by CEO Rob Shilder, will continue to operate the brand’s marketing and product development operations out of the current Amsterdam headquarters. They also will continue to have oversight over wholesale, retail and e-commerce distribution.
“G-Star Raw is a strong digital denim fashion brand with an exceptional team that we believe is primed for accelerated growth. We are thrilled to partner with founder Jos van Tilburg and CEO Rob Schilder,” Yehuda Shmidman, WHP’s chairman and CEO, said.
“In WHP Global, we experience the right strategic and financial partner for further global and sustainable growth in the decades to come, while staying true to our signature product, our dedicated teams, and our loyal business partners,” Tilburg said.
“We look forward to working closely with WHP Global in this partnership, as we harness their expertise to expedite G-Star’s global expansion, by strengthening our presence in the U.S. and tapping into new geographies as well as new product categories,” Schilder added.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. WHP said it expects the deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2023, subject to certain customary closing conditions.
Once finalized, the acquisition of G-Star propels the WHP brand portfolio to over $7 billion in worldwide retail sales, making it one of the largest brand management firms in the world.
WHP has an understanding of the denim business, having acquired the William Rast and Joe’s Jeans brands in November 2021. William Rast is the denim and sportswear brand founded by Justin Timberlake and Trace Ayala in 2005. Joe’s Jeans is known for its L.A. sensibility and distinct point-of-view.
Both were acquired out of bankruptcy in the Sequential Brands Group Chapter 11 filing. As part of the transaction, for which WHP paid $48.5 million, WHP is partnering with Centric Brands for Joe’s Jeans. WHP owns the worldwide intellectual property in all global territories other than China, while Centric will operates Joe’s Jeans under an exclusive license for certain core categories and geographies across retail, wholesale and e-commerce channels.
Shmidman was the former CEO of Sequential Brands Group. He left the company to form WHP before Sequential filed for bankruptcy. In addition to familiarity with both the William Rast and Joe’s Jeans brands, other names under the former Sequential umbrella included Jessica Simpson, which also had a denim component.
WHP’s first acquisition was Anne Klein in July 2019. That was followed by Joseph Abboud in March 2020. WHP also took a majority stake in Toys “R” Us in March 2021, a deal that included Babies”R” Us and more than 20 established consumer toy and baby brands. The Toys “R” Us partnership with Macy’s Inc. is now helping the department store retailer become a toy destination for holiday shoppers and beyond. WHP is backed by Oaktree Capital Management.
G-Star was founded in 1989 and is one of the world’s leading denim brands. But following the pandemic, it’s Australian and U.S. businesses suffered from market conditions. The Australian arm fell into administration in August 2020 and shut down after failing to find a buyer. The U.S.-arm of Dutch-owned G-Star Raw Retail Inc. filed its own voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy court petition in July of that year in Los Angeles. And shortly after the U.S. filing, a corporate restructuring sheared 10 percent of G-Star’s headcount from payroll, including 150 in the Netherlands headquarters. The U.S. business ultimately restructured and exited bankruptcy proceedings in late 2020.
In the years post-COVID, denim has seen a resurgence as consumers started heading outdoors again and back into their offices, with many updating their wardrobes as they pulled back on athleisure options. And there seems to be a long runway ahead for growth in the category.
