California Apparel News

The Sage Group, a Los Angeles investment bank that has brokered several high-profile apparel-company sales and acquisitions, has lost two of its top executives to another Los Angeles investment bank.

Brien Rowe, co-founder and managing director at The Sage Group since it was formed in 2000, and Marvin Padilla, a managing director at Sage since 2005, have left Sage to join Intrepid Investment Bankers, which is also hiring Philippe Faraut, an investment banker who worked at Financo and at Sage.

Intrepid was founded in 2010 by the former principals of Barrington Associates. Barrington Associates, an adviser in the mergers-and-acquisition market, was acquired in 2006 by Wells Fargo.

Faraut said he and the other two new Intrepid managing directors will be focusing on finding buyers and investors for apparel companies as well as cosmetic companies and other ventures based in the consumer-products industry.

“Intrepid is focused on the middle market,” Faraut said. “There are a lot of people looking to buy [apparel companies] and a lot of people looking to sell, which is what we like.”

Faraut was instrumental in helping Jeff Rudes, co-founder of J Brand premium-denim jeans, sell 60 percent of his company in 2010 for $85 million to private-equity firm Star Avenue Capital. Rowe helped engineer the sale of DC Shoes to Quiksilver, and Padilla was instrumental in finding an investment partner this year for Too Faced Cosmetics.“We are excited to have Brien, Marvin and Philippe join Intrepid,” said Intrepid Chief Executive Mike Rosenberg.
The three new executives will boost Intrepid’s knowledge of apparel, accessories, action- and boardsports, restaurants, and retail. Rowe will head up the Consumer Products Group.

The addition of the three new executives means Intrepid, whose headquarters are in West Los Angeles, now has more than 25 investment bankers on board.—Deborah Belgum