Authentic Brands nets $500m follow-on investment from General Atlantic

New York-based global brand owner, Authentic Brands Group, announced that it has received a $500 million primary follow-on investment from its existing investor, General Atlantic, a global growth equity firm.

The move signifies Authentic Brands Group’s intention to leverage its ongoing partnership with General Atlantic to fuel its global expansion and speed up its proven approach, which unites strong brands with dynamic partners and a worldwide network of operators, distributors, and retailers to maximize value in the market.

General Atlantic initially partnered with Authentic Brands Group in October 2017. With this latest investment, the firm’s total invested capital in Authentic Brands Group is nearing $2 billion. Since this initial investment, Authentic Brands Group has undertaken close to 30 brand acquisitions and has diversified its platform through new verticals, including media, outdoor, events and experiences, and most recently, studios.

Authentic Brands Group has quickly become one of the leading brand platforms worldwide since its inception in 2010.

In 2022, the company’s growth continued to surge with strategic partnerships such as co-owning and managing David Beckham’s global brand, the acquisition of sports culture brand Reebok – its largest to date, and the finalization of the acquisition of British lifestyle brand Ted Baker. These moves have bolstered Authentic Brands Group’s presence in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East. Additionally, Authentic Brands Group recently purchased the intellectual property of luxury lifestyle brand Vince and outdoor lifestyle brand Hunter.

The company also signed an agreement to acquire active lifestyle company Boardriders, and launched Authentic Studios, a full-service production studio that includes four distinct labels.

Andrew Crawford — General Atlantic Managing Director and Global Head of Consumer said: “General Atlantic is proud to be a long-term partner to Jamie and the Authentic Brands Group team. Over the past six years of our work together, Authentic has significantly accelerated its growth by capitalizing on meaningful M&A opportunities, expanding into key markets and building a deeply experienced management team.

“Looking ahead, we believe Authentic is positioned for continued diversification across categories, license partners, geographies and distribution channels, with immense whitespace in digital and e-commerce particularly. We are thrilled to continue collaborating with Authentic to further scale its differentiated portfolio of brands.”

Presently, Authentic Brands Group’s portfolio of over 40 iconic brands generates more than $25 billion in global annual retail sales, boasting a retail presence in 150 countries. This includes more than 10,800 freestanding stores and shop-in-shops and 380,000 points of sale.

Jamie Salter — Authentic Brands Group Founder, Chairman, and CEO said: “General Atlantic’s increased investment in Authentic is a testament to the strength of our proprietary brand platform, business model and team.

“General Atlantic takes an innovative investment approach and shares our vision for building brand value for the long term. We are proud to be part of General Atlantic’s selective portfolio of first-movers and established companies and look forward to continuing to partner with them to evolve and scale our model worldwide.”

Other significant shareholders of Authentic Brands Group include BlackRock, Simon Property Group, CVC Capital Partners, Leonard Green & Partners, HPS Investment Partners, and Brookfield.