Iconix Brand Group says it’s taking “strategic” steps to right-size its portfolio.
A spokesperson for the firm confirmed Wednesday that Iconix has sold its 50 percent stake in BBC Ice Cream LLC, owner of the Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream clothing labels, to founder Pharrell Williams and his partners.
“It was a strategic decision to rationalize smaller non-core assets in the Iconix portfolio, allowing us to focus our time and resources on the larger cash-flow-generating brands,” an Iconix spokesperson told Footwear News in an email on Wednesday. “BBC and Ice Cream represented less than 1 percent of our total business.”
A string of high-profile stumbles at Iconix — including the abrupt departure of founder and CEO Neil Cole — hurt the company’s image and share price last year.
In addition to the departure of Cole, as well as the firm’s CFO and COO in March 2015 and April 2015, respectively, Iconix has struggled to regain its footing after confirming that it was under investigation by the Securities & Exchange Commission. That confirmation, in late-December, followed news of several lawsuits from disgruntled investors and an announcement in November that the firm would re-state several financial statements filed with the SEC from 2013 to 2015.
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Grammy-winning musician Williams, who won FN’s 2015 Collaboration of the Year for his Bee Line x Timberland shoes, founded Billionaire Boys Club in 2005 with his manager, Robert Walker, and Japanese designer Nigo.
Iconix’s brands and licenses include popular footwear-and-apparel label Candie’s, the Peanuts brand, Marc Ecko, Pony and Badgley Mischka.
