Authentic Brands Group secures $500m investment to fuel growth

Authentic Brands Group, the owner of brands including Reebok and Ted Baker, has secured a $500m (£395m) primary follow-on investment from its current investor General Atlantic, a leading global growth equity firm. 

Authentic said it intends to leverage its continued partnership with General Atlantic to support its worldwide expansion and accelerate its playbook, which connects strong brands with dynamic partners and a global network of operators, distributors and retailers to optimise value in the marketplace.

General Atlantic first partnered with Authentic in October 2017, with its latest investment bringing the firm’s total invested capital in the company to nearly $2bn (£1.5bn). Since General Atlantic’s initial investment, Authentic has executed nearly 30 brand acquisitions and diversified its platform through new verticals, including media, outdoor, events and experiences, and most recently, studios. 

Jamie Salter, founder, chairman and CEO of Authentic, said: “General Atlantic’s increased investment in Authentic is a testament to the strength of our proprietary brand platform, business model and team. General Atlantic takes an innovative investment approach and shares our vision for building brand value for the long term. 

“We are proud to be part of General Atlantic’s selective portfolio of first-movers and established companies and look forward to continuing to partner with them to evolve and scale our model worldwide.”

Since its founding in 2010, Authentic has swiftly grown into one of the world’s leading brand platforms. In 2022, the company continued to accelerate its growth through a strategic partnership with David Beckham to co-own his global brand, completed its largest acquisition to date with sports culture brand Reebok, and finalised the acquisition of British lifestyle brand Ted Baker. 

In recent months, Authentic has acquired the intellectual property of luxury lifestyle brand Vince and outdoor lifestyle brand Hunter, as well as signed a definitive agreement to purchase active lifestyle company boardriders. 

Today, Authentic’s portfolio of 40-plus iconic and renowned brands generates more than $25bn (£18bn) in global annual retail sales and has an expansive retail footprint in 150 countries, including 10,800-plus freestanding stores and shop-in-shops and 380,000 points of sale.

Andrew Crawford, managing director and global head of consumer at General Atlantic, said: “General Atlantic is proud to be a long-term partner to Jamie and the Authentic Brands Group team. Over the past six years of our work together, Authentic has significantly accelerated its growth by capitalising on meaningful M&A opportunities, expanding into key markets and building a deeply experienced management team. 

“Looking ahead, we believe Authentic is positioned for continued diversification across categories, licence partners, geographies and distribution channels, with immense whitespace in digital and e-commerce particularly. We are thrilled to continue collaborating with Authentic to further scale its differentiated portfolio of brands.”