VF Corp.’s Imagewear coalition made a major splash in the licensed apparel business as it acquired the only pro-league uniform supplier not named Reebok or adidas, picking up Majestic Athletic, Inc. and its related companies. This deal gives VF the license for all on-field apparel worn in Major League Baseball. The company did not disclose any specific terms of the deal, but did say that they expect for the combined acquisitions of bag maker Eagle Creek and Majestic to add approximately $180 million to 2007 revenues. Given the fact that VF previously said it expects Eagle Creek to add $30 million to revenues, its safe to guess that the remainder of 2007 will see Majestic provide $150 million to the top line.

Industry sources estimate that given VF’s past tendencies in acquisitions, Majestic sold for between $135 million and $150 million.

In a presentation at the Bear, Stearns 13th Annual Retail, Restaurants and Consumers Conference, VF Corp.’s CFO Robert Shearer said that they expect the combined Eagle Creek/Majestic acquisitions “will add about $200 million in sales on an annualized basis.”

As for the license itself, that was just recently re-negotiated, giving VF five years of on-field presence before the deal expires.

Sports Executive Weekly talked with Rick Becker, VP of sales and marketing for the Imagewear coalition’s Activewear division about what he sees for the future of Majestic with VF and VF’s baseball business as a whole. “Absolutely we see it as a growth vehicle,” said Becker. “We are planning on growing our entire segment, not just the Baseball business. We are targeting growth of at least 10% overall with Major League Baseball.”

SEW also spoke with Faust Capobianco IV, president of Majestic, who expects to see Majestic expand its product scope. “The Majestic brand will continue,” he said. “In reality, VF has such tremendous brands in their various coalitions, the one hole that we found was in a real authentic athletic brand, and we bring them that. So if anything, you’re going to see a higher profile for the Majestic Athletic brand on more products in more categories in better distribution channels,” said Capobianco.

Both Becker and Capobianco noted that Majestic fits neatly into the existing structure at VF Imagewear. “Our heritage is as a fanwear supplier to the licensed retail industry,” said Becker. “We’ve never been in the business of supplying the teams themselves with authentics and replicas, so we thought this was an excellent opportunity for us to expand our license business and gain the competency of managing both authentic and replica type product.”

Capobianco noted that VF will add quick-turn embellishment capabilities on apparel basics to Majestic’s current quick-turn abilities on uniforms, before expanding on the seasonality of the two business. “When you add the fact that, although both of our businesses are strong on a year-round basis, we tend to be especially strong seasonally in the spring, because of our baseball strength; and they’re a little heavier in the fall…these companies really match up. The demand curves kind of seasonally match up well,” said Capobianco.

Faust Capobianco IV, president of Majestic and the son of current chairman, Faust Capobianco III, will lead the entire baseball business for VF as VP/general manager, MLB, domestic and international licensed sales, reporting to Becker. Nicole Capobianco will oversee all MLB outfitting activities.