Brooks Brothers owner eyes $13 trillion market with IPO

Bloomberg

Jamie Salter always had big ambitions.
Though he started Authentic Brands Group Inc with lesser-known consumer names, he spent much of the last decade vacuuming up ailing but widely recognised brands like Barneys New York, Sports Illustrated and Brooks Brothers. Now, he’ll do so in the public eye.
Authentic filed paperwork for an initial public offering this week, and the company’s aiming high. “There is $13 trillion of branded commerce in our sights,” Salter wrote to prospective investors in a regulatory filing.
That’s the retail value he envisions for potential merchandise in Authentic’s brand portfolio — not the licensing fees that now make up the bulk of revenues. It’s a measure of Salter’s confidence in growing global affluence, brand extensions and acquisitions.
“The opportunity set for our brands spans the global consumer economy — fashion, footwear, media, film, music, events, outdoor, luxury, beauty, home…from Marilyn Monroe NFTs to Sports Illustrated digital events, the scope and scale of our opportunity is truly open-ended,” he wrote in the prospectus. Authentic’s filing lists only a placeholder amount of $100 million, but Bloomberg has reported that the IPO could value the company around $10 billion. Net income grew fourfold to $225 million last year from $56 million in 2016, while revenue jumped to $489 million from $165 million.
“We don’t manage stores, inventory, or supply chains. We don’t manufacture anything,” Salter said in the prospectus. “We are a licensing business and are purely focused on brand identity and marketing.”
But Authentic’s chief executive officer weighs in on management and merchandising decisions, often in conjunction with the head of Simon, the largest US mall operator.
Salter has capitalised on the retail apocalypse, snapping up and revitalising beaten up brands, but the future of retail remains uncertain, especially in the wake of a global pandemic that accelerated shifts on consumer tastes, spending and shopping.
Now, Salter says he won’t look at deals under $1 billion.