Cherokee Inc. has acquired the worldwide Tony Hawk and Hawk signature apparel brands from Quiksilver, Inc. for an all-cash purchase price of $19 million. The acquisition closed on Jan. 10, 2014.
Tony Hawk, the most dominant athlete in skateboarding history, is the founder of Tony Hawk clothing which was originally sold to Quiksilver, Inc. in 2000. The brand was, and will continue to be, exclusively licensed in the United States to Kohl’s Corporation with Tony Hawk clothing and accessories sold in 1,158 Kohl’s Department Stores and online.
Hawk was ranked the number-one vertical ramp skateboarder in the world every year from 1984 to 1996 and is best known for completing the first documented 900-degree aerial spin at the 1999 X Games. Over the past 12 years, the Tony Hawk Foundation has donated over $4.6 million to help create 537 skateparks throughout the U.S. Hawk continues to be the most prominent athlete bridging action sports with the consumer market, solidifying his legacy as the “Original Innovator” promoting “board” culture worldwide.
Tony Hawk commented on the recent acquisition, “I’ve been working closely with the Cherokee team and will continue to be actively involved in the brand’s development, connecting with fans and action sports enthusiasts worldwide. I am very excited to be working with Cherokee and to continue the line’s successful relationship with Kohl’s while expanding our relationships globally.”
“The acquisition of the Tony Hawk signature apparel brand is a great way to start the New Year for Cherokee,” Henry Stupp, Cherokee’s Chief Executive Officer, noted. “This is Cherokee’s third strategic acquisition in just over a year. We identified the Tony Hawk brand for a variety of reasons including the opportunity to further expand into the department store and specialty channels of distribution globally. We expect the transaction to be immediately accretive and look forward to continuing to execute our long-term growth plan that seeks additional new markets for our existing brands; expands our product offerings with our current partners; and identifies additional lifestyle brands to add to our portfolio.”
Stupp continued, “The Tony Hawk brand fits perfectly into our strategy for the globalization of brands much like we have done for our namesake Cherokee brand and most recently with Liz Lange Maternity. We’d like to welcome Tony and his over 5 million Facebook fans (https://www.facebook.com/TonyHawk), his more than 3.5 million Twitter followers (https://twitter.com/tonyhawk), his YouTube fans with over 20 million views (http://www.youtube.com/tonyhawk) and his more than 1 million Instagram followers (http://instagram.com/tonyhawk) to the Cherokee family of brands. We look forward to much success together.”
Financo acted as exclusive financial advisor to Cherokee Inc. in the transaction.
On January 10, 2014 in connection with the acquisition, Cherokee and JPMorgan Chase Bank entered into a credit agreement to finance the purchase of the Tony Hawk and Hawk signature apparel brands. The Company intends to file a Current Report on Form 8-K with the Securities and Exchange Commission with additional information regarding the terms of the acquisition, the agreement with Kohl’s and the credit agreement.
Cherokee Inc. is a global marketer and manager of a portfolio of Fashion and Lifestyle brands including Cherokee, Carole Little, Liz Lange and Sideout, in multiple consumer product categories and sectors around the world. The Company has license agreements with premier retailers and manufacturers covering over 40 countries around the world including Target Stores (U.S. and Canada), Tesco (U.K., Ireland and certain Central European countries), RT-Mart (Peoples Republic of China), Pick ‘n Pay (South Africa), Falabella (Chile, Peru and Colombia), Arvind Mills (India and certain Middle Eastern countries), Shufersal LTD. (Israel), Comercial Mexicana (Mexico), Eroski (Spain), Nishimatsuya (Japan), Magnit (Russia), Landmark Group’s Max Stores (certain Middle East and North Africa countries), and the TJX Companies (U.S., Canada and Europe).
