Pony is about to begin another new chapter, this time with Iconix.
Iconix Brand Group Inc. will announce today it has acquired the North American rights to the athletic brand and related intangible assets in partnership with Anthony L&S Athletics LLC from Symphony Holdings LLC. The value of the transaction is $37 million in cash.
The assets will be purchased through a newly formed subsidiary, which will be 75 percent owned by Iconix and 25 percent by AL&S. Following the transaction, Iconix has the option to expand global ownership of the brand and acquire the Pony assets in additional territories.
“Sports has been one of the strongest and fastest growing segments of our portfolio, and a business that has proven to be truly global in its appeal,” said Neil Cole, chairman and CEO of Iconix in a statement. “With the addition of PONY, we believe we can leverage our existing sports platform including our Danskin, Starter and Umbro brands, which represent over two billion of global retail sales, and create significant value for the brand.”
“There is high demand for authentic athletic lifestyle brands,” added Seth Horowitz, COO of Iconix, in a statement. “With PONY’s strong brand recognition across both male and female consumers, we believe we can grow PONY throughout North America, creating a profitable multi-tiered distribution strategy similar to our other successful sports brands. Further, we plan to leverage our existing global platform as we explore opportunities in additional geographies.”
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AL&S will be the core footwear licensee for footwear in the U.S. and Canada.
“We are excited to partner with Iconix, and believe by combining our footwear expertise with Iconix’ global sports platform, we can build on PONY’s strong heritage in footwear and create tremendous growth for the brand,” said Santino LoConte, co-owner and COO of AL&S.
