Authentic Brands Group to acquire intellectual property rights of Guess

The US fashion and media group Authentic Brands Group LLC has acquired another prominent fashion brand. On Wednesday, the company announced it had signed a binding agreement to assume control of Guess’s intellectual property rights.

The acquisition is "another important milestone" for Authentic, the group stated. With global annual brand revenues totalling approximately six billion dollars, Guess will become the second largest brand in the group’s extensive portfolio, which also includes labels such as Reebok, Ted Baker and Champion.

A potential acquisition of Guess had been on the cards for months. The US group WHP Global LLC submitted an initial, non-binding offer in March. A few weeks later, media reports speculated about a possible interest from Authentic.

Guess to delist from stock exchange

The agreement stipulates that ABG will acquire a 51 percent stake in a new company that will own and license almost all of Guess's intellectual property rights. In addition, a large proportion of Guess's existing licensing agreements will be transferred to this company. The remaining 49 percent of the shares will be taken over by Guess founders Maurice and Paul Marciano, as well as Nicolai Marciano and Carlos Alberini, the fashion company's CEO.

The company that runs Guess's operating business will therefore go to the company's current management and will be delisted from the stock exchange. This company will "maintain its existing leadership and structure, ensuring that the strong teams and global platform behind the company's success are retained," a statement said.

Under the plan, existing Guess shareholders will receive 16.75 dollars per share. This represents a premium of approximately 73 percent over the share price on March 14, the last trading day before an initial non-binding takeover offer for Guess was received. The total value of Guess is thus estimated at 1.4 billion dollars.

Authentic Brands Group aims to expand Guess brand into new markets and product categories

The transaction is still subject to customary competition approvals and majority approval from Guess's existing shareholders. It is currently expected to close in the fourth quarter of the current 2025/26 financial year.

Jamie Salter, founder, chairman and CEO of Authentic, explained the background to the now agreed takeover. "Guess is a strong brand that has shaped style and culture for over 40 years," he said in a statement. "We have great respect for the Marcianos and their team, who have built an innovative, heritage brand with incredible global reach and an established ecosystem of partners. We look forward to building on this legacy with them as Guess enters its next chapter with our platform."

Authentic plans to leverage its existing global network to drive Guess's expansion into new product categories and market regions. At the same time, the "legendary archive" of the brand, founded in 1981, is to be revived, according to a statement.