The rumors have become official, LVMH has sold its Donna Karan line to G-III for $650 million dollars in a deal expected to close by the end of 2016 or early 2017. The New York-based G-III owns a combination of labels, including Andrew Marc, Marc New York, Bass, G.H. Bass and Weejuns, while holding licences for Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger and Karl Lagerfeld among others.
As a solidly middle-of-the road-priced brand, DKNY is a perfect fit for the publicly-traded G-III, which has it will used its well established connections among manufacturers and retailers to maximize the brand’s profit and distribution potential, as well as expand licensing opportunities, in particular in the categories of home, children and men’s.
As part of efforts to grow the brand, G-III CEO, Morris Goldfard, in a press call today, said while the brand is currently not making money, it expects losses will temper in 2017 and by 2018 it expects to be profitable. G-III said it plans to revive the Donna Karan brand and expects to double the brand’s revenue in “less than three years.”
In a press release, Goldfard added, “Donna Karan International is an iconic global fashion company. Its lifestyle aesthetic resonates well with consumers throughout the world. We are excited to build upon its strong foundation as we seek to capitalize on a significant market opportunity. Donna Karan brings increased scale and diversification, while providing incremental growth on top of our portfolio of some of the best fashion brands in the world. We believe we are well positioned to create and sustain additional value for our shareholders, partners, and customers.”
LVMH Group Managing Director, Toni Belloni, added, We are grateful to CEO Caroline Brown, creative directors Maxwell Osborne and Dao-Yi Chow, and the entire management and design teams for the strategic actions that created a platform to support DKNY’s continued growth.”
