The brand-licensing company, whose holdings include Toys “R” Us, will invest $235M for a 60 per cent stake in an intellectual property joint venture (with 40 per cent owned by Express).
The deal will allow the retailer to accelerate its growth scale through licensing in non-core categories and international expansion. Our partnership with WHP will drive greater scale and profitability of the Express brand through their category licensing and international expertise and strengthen our balance sheet,” said Express CEO Tim Baxter in a statement. “We expect to accelerate our growth by acquiring multiple brands in partnership with WHP and operating them on our platform.”
In addition, WHP will purchase $25M worth of Express common stock through a common equity PIPE investment. The company will purchase 5.4 million newly issued shares at $4.60 per share, which represents a 7.4 per cent stake.
Express and WHP also plan to will launch an omni-channel platform to acquire, operate and grow multiple fashion brands.
