Centric Brands has been sold to chief executive officer Jason Rabin and a new investor group that includes Axar Capital Management, M-Cor Capital LLC, MSP Sports Capital and Jarrod Kahn, the company's group president. The deal closed Friday. Previous owners Blackstone, Ares Management and HPS Investment Partners are exiting their stake.
Rabin, who has led the company since its founding in October 2018, said he wanted his business back. "Until now the company has been owned by Blackstone, Ares and HPS, three world-class private equity firms that have been with me since 2018," he said in an exclusive interview at Centric's New York headquarters. "They were supportive, but they're private equity. Private equity is an investment, and after a point in time, it's time. What's next? So with me being an entrepreneur in this business, I wanted my company back."
Rabin remains CEO and the management team continues to lead the company. Kahn said he looks forward to continuing to work with Rabin on his long-term global vision. Jeff Moorad, CEO of MSP Sports Capital, said Centric has the scale, strategy and operating discipline to keep growing across brands, categories and markets.
Centric's portfolio spans men's, women's and kids' apparel, accessories and beauty, with more than 100 licensed and owned brands including Calvin Klein, Coach, Dockers, Gap, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, Ugg and Under Armour, plus entertainment brands such as Disney, Marvel, Paramount and Universal. Operations cover North America, Europe and Asia, and company revenue exceeds $3 billion.
Rabin said the buyout "is not about the money" but about continuing to build a blue-chip company with quality, integrity, transparency and authenticity. Priorities include international expansion; Centric already has offices in Milan, Amsterdam and London and is moving into Asia, where it has more than 16 mostly sourcing offices and plans to build wholesale and distribution operations.
The company operates through three platforms: Centric Powered, its largest pillar, which runs brand building, design, manufacturing and distribution for licensed brands; Centric Ventures, which partners with founders; and Centric Collective, which acquires and manages brand IP including Avirex, Hudson Jeans and Robert Graham. Centric also uses AI heavily on the back end and in design, and has an AI platform called Centric IQ.
Rabin said Centric was impacted by the Saks Global bankruptcy, with Saks having been a partner. Asked about going public, he said that's "not in the cards today" and the company is happy being private. Centric employs 2,600 people worldwide across 26 offices, and the staff remains the same following the acquisition.
Originally reported by WWD