By Arlenys Tabare
17 Jul 2024, 12:46 PM EDT
This Wednesday through a statement the Italian company EssilorLuxottica announced the purchase of the American clothing and accessories brand Supreme for a deal worth $1.5 billion cash.
For the European manufacturer “Supreme aligns perfectly with our innovation and development processoffering us a direct connection with new audiences, languages and creativity,” he said in the statement.
The deal was made with VF Corp. (VFC), the parent company of Vans and Dickies, which had bought the American brand in 2020 for about $2.1 billion. Although this latest negotiation was for a lower price than four years ago EssilorLuxottica has assured that Supreme will have its “own space.”
Although the name of the Italian company is little known in the market, the brands that own its collection are, however, well-known, such as: Oakley, Oliver Peoples, Persol, Ray-Ban, among others, as well as licensing agreements with Dolce & Gabbana, Chanel and Coach.
GlobalData retail analyst Neil Saunders commented on the purchase saying, “Buying a streetwear brand at a time when that aesthetic has lost strength is riskyand it is unclear what EssilorLuxottica intends to do to revive Supreme’s fortunes,” he told CNN.
However, Saunders said that although VF Corp “overpaid for a valuable asset that it was not sure how to develop or care for,” he believes that EssilorLuxottica has “strong distribution capabilities and is good at brand management.”
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