Cherokee Inc. Acquires Two New Brands
Cherokee Inc., the Los Angeles company known for its brand management of apparel labels, has acquired Liz Lange Maternity and Completely Me.
Cherokee announced on Sept. 6 that it paid $14 million for the two brands, which previously were owned by Bluestar Alliance, a New York private-investment firm and brand manager that also owns labels such as the Los Angeles–born Hot Kiss, English Laundry, Kensie, Mac + Jac, Joan Vass, Kooba and Yak Pak.
The Liz Lange Maternity collection is sold exclusively at all Target stores and online at Target’s e-commerce site (www.target.com).
Liz Lange is also the designer behind the Completely Me line, a collection of comfortable everyday clothing launched in 2010 and sold exclusively on both the Home Shopping Network in the United States and The Shopping Channel in Canada.
To finance the purchases, Cherokee arranged a new-term loan with JP Morgan Chase Bank.
Henry Stupp, Cherokee’s chief executive officer, said he expects the two acquisitions to immediately deliver cash flow.
“Liz Lange is an established brand with a face and a strong media presence,” Stupp said. “She’s appeared on major programs such as the Oprah [Winfrey] show. Because she is an established brand with high awareness, we could easily plug the brand into our global platform, and we are looking forward to bringing this successful North American brand to the world.” Liz Lange, founder and creative director of Liz Lange Maternity, said she was thrilled to become a part of the Cherokee family “and expand the brand to expecting moms around the world.”
Cherokee is one of the first companies in Los Angeles to transition from a footwear and apparel maker to a brand manager. Cherokee started out as a shoe line in 1973 and expanded into apparel. Now Cherokee clothing is licensed to Target and other mid-tier stores.
Cherokee’s other labels include Carole Little, Chorus Line, Sideout, All That Jazz, Saint Tropez-West and Laila Ali.
The announcement of the acquisition was made the same day that Cherokee reported its second-quarter results for the period ending July 28.
Net income for the quarter was $1.6 million, or 19 cents per diluted share, compared with $1.7 million, or 20 cents per diluted share, for the same period last year.
Net revenues for the most recent second quarter were $6.3 million, down from $6.7 million last year.—D.B.
