Speedo owner Pentland to buy brand's North American ops from PVH

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jan 9, 2020

Apparel giant PVH Corp is selling its Speedo North America business to UK-based Pentland Group, which is the parent company of Speedo International Limited. The British firm is paying $170 million in cash for the brand, subject to a working capital adjustment.

The transaction should close in Q1 of PVH’s fiscal 2020 year and is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.

Speedo International currently licenses the Speedo trademark to a PVH subsidiary for perpetual use in North America and the Caribbean. But the sale comes as PVH doubles down on its focus on its star high-end labels with its chairman CEO Emanuel Chirico saying: “This strategic announcement aligns with PVH’s goal to optimise and streamline its Heritage Brands business in the ever-evolving retail environment and focus on delivering sustainable profitable growth of its global brands, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. I am pleased to see Pentland Group reunite the Speedo business globally, as they are best positioned to capture the full potential of the iconic brand.”

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Pentland also owns the Berghaus, Canterbury, Ellesse and SeaVees brands, and has owned Speed since 1991, continuing to drive its development in the ensuing decades.

The CEO of Pentland’s Brands division, Andy Long, said on Thursday that “we’ve had a great partnership with PVH and they’ve done an incredible job in raising the profile of the Speedo brand and growing the business in North America during their time as licensee.”

The buyout comes at a key time for the sports swimwear label with the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics happening this year and a large number of Speedo-sponsored swimmers taking part.

Long added: “With the Tokyo Games this year, now is the right time to bring Speedo North America back into our brand portfolio. Pentland has a strong track record of investing in people and international brands and we’re looking forward to welcoming the Speedo North America team into the Pentland family.”