Emanuel Chirico, Chairman and CEO of Phillips-Van Heusen (left), Tommy Hilfiger (center) and Fred Gehring, CEO of Tommy Hilfiger B.V. (right). Photo: Business Wire
Phillips-Van Heusen is on a spree, buying Tommy Hilfiger B.V. for about $3 billion, in turn, creating one of the world's largest apparel companies.
PVH, parent of Van Heusen, Calvin Klein, Izod, Arrow, Bass and now Tommy Hilfiger, as well as licensed brands Geoffrey Beene, Kenneth Cole New York, Kenneth Cole Reaction and MICHAEL Michael Kors, among others, is creating the American fashion conglomerate which will have combined sales upwards of $4.6 billion.
"This is a unique opportunity to bring together two premier companies, each with iconic brands, which will deliver enhanced opportunities for our stockholders, business partners, customers and employees as we leverage a combined global platform in the years ahead," Emanuel Chirico, Chairman and CEO of PVH, said in a release.
Tommy Hilfiger, who has remained with his namesake company through private, public, private and now public ownership again, will stay in his role as principal designer and visionary for the Tommy Hilfiger brand.
"This is the next phase in the global evolution and expansion of the Tommy Hilfiger brand," Hilfiger said in a release. "I look forward to remaining actively involved in the business and believe that PVH is the ideal partner to help us achieve our goals."
Interestingly, Tommy Hilfiger once investigated buying the Calvin Klein brand, but backed down when it appeared not to be a fit. Now, the two companies are "brothers" in a bigger company. And Apax Partners, the seller of Tommy Hilfiger, was involved in buying Calvin Klein along with PVH.
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