G-III Apparel Group, Ltd. announced that it has acquired Andrew Marc, a supplier of outerwear and handbags for both men and women to the upscale specialty and department store tiers of distribution. For 2007, the Andrew Marc business recorded approximately $80 million of net sales under the Andrew Marc, Marc New York, and licensed Dockers and Levi’s brands. The purchase price, including working capital adjustments, was approximately $42 million.


The transaction is expected to be accretive in the first year.

Morris Goldfarb, chairman and CEO, said, “We have long believed that our business and growth prospects would be exceptionally well served with a strong company-owned brand. Andrew Marc, which is recognized as one of the best outerwear brands in the marketplace, is an excellent fit with our organization. Strategically, we believe that the Andrew Marc brand can be leveraged into a variety of new categories to become a meaningful contemporary lifestyle brand. Operationally, we believe that we can quickly identify synergies and achieve economies of scale in a variety of areas. Financially, we believe that the transaction will prove to be accretive this year. We also believe that the transaction will provide exceptional value to us and the opportunity to drive incremental returns to our shareholders as we move forward with our growth plans for this business.“


Mark Schwartz, president and CEO of Gordon Brothers Group, LLC, and Managing Partner of GB Merchant Partners, commented, “We have worked closely with the team at Andrew Marc to develop the Company’s owned and licensed brands. As we now focus on our other portfolio companies, we are confident that the tremendous potential of Andrew Marc, Marc New York, Dockers and Levi’s will continue to be realized under the ownership of G-III.“


Andrew Marc was advised by Financo, Inc., a New York based investment banking firm. G-III was represented by Fulbright & Jaworksi, L.L.P. GB Merchant Partners was represented by Latham & Watkins LLP.