Authentic Brands Group receives $500m to fuel global expansion

Authentic Brands Group (ABG), the owner of Ted Baker and Quicksilver, has announced that General Atlantic, a leading growth equity firm, has further invested $500 million in the global brand owner.

With General Atlantic's support, Authentic intends to use the funding to support ‘worldwide expansion and accelerate its proven playbook’, which connects brands with partners, operators, distributors and retailers.

As it stands, Authentic boasts a portfolio of over 40 well-known brands and generates more than $25 billion in global annual retail sales.

General Atlantic first partnered with ABG in October 2017. Since then, it has acquired 30 brands and diversified its platform through new verticals. With this follow-on investment, General Atlantic has invested nearly $2 billion in the company.

Jamie Salter, Founder, Chairman and CEO of ABG, commented: "General Atlantic’s increased investment in Authentic is a testament to the strength of our proprietary brand platform, business model and team.

"General Atlantic takes an innovative investment approach and shares our vision for building brand value for the long term. We are proud to be part of General Atlantic’s selective portfolio of first-movers and established companies and look forward to continuing to partner with them to evolve and scale our model worldwide."

Authentic’s additional significant shareholders include BlackRock, CVC Capital Partners, Simon Property Group, HPS Investment Partners, Leonard Green & Partners and Brookfield.

Andrew Crawford, Managing Director and Global Head of Consumer at General Atlantic, said: "General Atlantic is proud to be a long-term partner to Jamie and the Authentic Brands Group team. Over the past six years of our work together, Authentic has significantly accelerated its growth by capitalizing on meaningful M&A opportunities, expanding into key markets and building a deeply experienced management team.

"Looking ahead, we believe Authentic is positioned for continued diversification across categories, license partners, geographies and distribution channels, with immense whitespace in digital and e-commerce particularly. We are thrilled to continue collaborating with Authentic to further scale its differentiated portfolio of brands."

Earlier this month, Authentic Brands Group acquired the intellectual property of British heritage brand Hunter. The addition of Hunter drives the company's strategy of diversifying its portfolio with brands that originate from outside of the US.