Wolverine Worldwide Acquires Women’s Activewear Brand Sweaty Betty
- Adds digitally-native, premium global apparel brand to the Company’s portfolio, which is expected to fuel growth and enhance Wolverine Worldwide’s fast-growing eCommerce business
- Expected to be accretive to earnings in year one
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Wolverine Worldwide to hold a conference call today,
August 3, 2021 , at10:30 a.m. EDT
This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210803005298/en/
Wolverine Worldwide Acquires Women’s Activewear Brand Sweaty Betty (Photo: Business Wire)
Founded in 1998, Sweaty Betty has quickly grown to become a global brand designed by women for women. It has cultivated a loyal following through its purpose-driven mission and high quality products, including a wide array of innovative and on-trend tops, bottoms, swimwear, outerwear, and accessories. Distributed around the world, over eighty percent of the brand’s revenue currently comes through direct-to-consumer channels, allowing deep connections with its passionate consumer base.
“The acquisition of Sweaty Betty complements our strategic shift over the last several years from a traditional footwear wholesaler into a consumer-obsessed, digital-focused growth company. It also gives us a leadership position in the growing women’s activewear category,” said
“Sweaty Betty aligns perfectly with our strategic growth plan for Wolverine Worldwide, as we focus on growing digital channels, expanding our international footprint, and building our brand portfolio beyond footwear,” said
Sweaty Betty’s Chief Executive Officer,
“We founded Sweaty Betty in 1998 with the purpose to empower women through fitness, and today we are delighted to have found the right partner in Wolverine Worldwide, a company that is perfectly positioned to support the acceleration of our mission,” said Tamara and
TRANSACTION DETAILS
Effective
Additional details about the transaction are contained in a presentation under “Webcasts and Presentations” in the Investor Relations section of www.wolverineworldwide.com
Rothschild & Co. served as financial advisor to Wolverine Worldwide, with
CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION
The Company will host a conference call today at
ABOUT WOLVERINE WORLDWIDE
Founded in 1883 on the belief in the possibility of opportunity,
ABOUT SWEATY BETTY
Leading British activewear and lifestyle brand Sweaty Betty has been on a mission to empower women through fitness and beyond since 1998. The brand’s loyal, fast-growing and global community of active women has female empowerment and inclusivity at its core. Famous for bum-sculpting leggings and innovative prints, Sweaty Betty combines fitness and style with technical high-performance fabrics and responsibly sourced materials. Based in
In addition to its website which services customers globally, Sweaty Betty has shops in the
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements regarding the Company’s expectations that the Sweaty Betty acquisition will be accretive to earnings in year one, fuel growth and enhance the Company’s eCommerce business, and the Company’s strategic growth plan. In addition, words such as “estimates,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “forecasts,” “step,” “plans,” “predicts,” “focused,” “projects,” “outlook,” “is likely,” “expects,” “intends,” “should,” “will,” “confident,” variations of such words, and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve certain risks, uncertainties, and assumptions (“Risk Factors”) that are difficult to predict with regard to timing, extent, likelihood, and degree of occurrence. Risk Factors include, among others: the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business, operations, financial results and liquidity, including the duration and magnitude of such effects, which will depend on numerous evolving factors that the Company cannot currently accurately predict or assess, including: the duration and scope of the pandemic; the negative impact on global and regional markets, economies and economic activity, including the duration and magnitude of its impact on unemployment rates, consumer discretionary spending and levels of consumer confidence; actions governments, businesses and individuals take in response to the pandemic; the effects of the pandemic, including all of the foregoing, on the Company’s distributors, manufacturers, suppliers, joint venture partners, wholesale customers and other counterparties, and how quickly economies and demand for the Company’s products recover after the pandemic subsides; changes in general economic conditions, employment rates, business conditions, interest rates, tax policies and other factors affecting consumer spending in the markets and regions in which the Company’s products are sold; the inability for any reason to effectively compete in global footwear, apparel and consumer-direct markets; the inability to maintain positive brand images and anticipate, understand and respond to changing footwear and apparel trends and consumer preferences; the inability to effectively manage inventory levels; increases or changes in duties, tariffs, quotas or applicable assessments in countries of import and export; foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations; currency restrictions; supply chain or other capacity constraints, production disruptions, quality issues, price increases or other risks associated with foreign sourcing; the cost and availability of raw materials, inventories, services and labor for contract manufacturers; labor disruptions; changes in relationships with, including the loss of, significant wholesale customers; risks related to the significant investment in, and performance of, the Company’s consumer-direct operations; risks related to expansion into new markets and complementary product categories; the impact of seasonality and unpredictable weather conditions; changes in general economic conditions and/or the credit markets on the Company’s distributors, suppliers and retailers; increases in the Company’s effective tax rates; failure of licensees or distributors to meet planned annual sales goals or to make timely payments to the Company; the risks of doing business in developing countries, and politically or economically volatile areas; the ability to secure and protect owned intellectual property or use licensed intellectual property; the impact of regulation, regulatory and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks, including compliance with federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment, environmental remediation and other related costs, and litigation or other legal proceedings relating to the protection of the environment or environmental effects on human health; the potential breach of the Company’s databases or other systems, or those of its vendors, which contain certain personal information, payment card data or proprietary information, due to cyberattack or other similar events; problems affecting the Company’s supply chain or distribution system, including service interruptions at shipping and receiving ports; strategic actions, including new initiatives and ventures, acquisitions and dispositions, and the Company’s success in integrating acquired businesses, and implementing new initiatives and ventures; the risk of impairment to goodwill and other intangibles; changes in future pension funding requirements and pension expenses; and additional factors discussed in the Company’s reports filed with the
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210803005298/en/
Layne@Lividini.com
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