Bebe and Bluestar Alliance form joint venture partnership

By

Obi Anyanwu

Published
Jun 8, 2016

Bebe Stores, Inc. announced on Wednesday a new joint venture with Bluestar Alliance LLC. Bebe has received $35 million in connection with the formation of the joint venture.

 
Under the terms of the agreement, Bebe contributes its trademarks and intellectual property to the newly formed joint venture and Bluestar contributes $35 million to the joint venture that was then paid to Bebe. Bluestar received just under 50% of the joint venture and Bebe received the remaining half.
 
Bluestar will leverage its existing brand management organization and infrastructure to develop a wholesale domestic and international lifestyle licensing business for the joint venture and will manage day-to-day operations.

Manny Mashouf, founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of bebe, stated, “Over decades we built one of the great global brands in the women’s fashion world. However, the value of our brand, its reach and potential is clearly not reflected in investors’ current perception of the company and its valuation. The strategic decision to aggressively pursue a licensing strategy allows us to capitalize on the value of our brand in all categories and channels on a global scale. We have seen significant demand from prospective licensees and expect to generate long-term, committed royalties.”
 
Founded in 2006, Bluestar Alliance owns, manages and markets a portfolio of consumer brands including Nanette Lepore and Catherine Malandrino. In January, the company entered a joint venture partnership with Michael Bastian to form MB Brand Holdings LLC.