Apparel giant PVH has sold its Speedo North American swimwear business to Pentland Group, the parent company of Speedo International, for a transaction amount of US$170 million.
The proceeds from the deal, first announced in January, will increase PVH’s liquidity, which currently exceeds $1.3 billion in cash and available borrowings.
MannyChirico, chairman and CEO of PVH, said: Speedo’s decision to recombine its North American and global businesses allows Pentland to conduct overall and comprehensive management of the brand.
This transaction is consistent with PVH’s goal to optimize Heritage Brands’ business in an evolving retail environment and focus on the long-term growth of its global brands Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.
Pentland Group owns Berghaus, Canterbury, Ellesse, SeaVees and other brands, and acquired Speedo in 1991. Since then, Pentland has developed Speedo into the world’s leading high-performance swimwear brand by working directly and with licensees such as PVH.
Pentland will now operate the Speedo business globally.
Andy Long, CEO of Pentland Group’s Pentland Brand Division, added: In this period of uncertainty, the completion of the acquisition of Speedo’s North American business demonstrates our commitment to this project. Our long-term commitment to the business also demonstrates our true passion for building a global brand.
This acquisition will enable us to provide customers with a stronger global brand proposition when demand returns.
