PVH to Sell Speedo to Pentland Group for $170 Million

Pentland was already the parent of Speedo International, which it acquired in 1991, and owns the swimwear brand’s intellectual property. PVH, as the licensee of the Speedo brand, paid royalties to Pentland. With the transaction, Pentland assumes direct control of the brand in North America.

PVH gained ownership of the perpetual license for Speedo in North America and the Caribbean when it acquired Warnaco for $2.9 billion in 2012. Since then, the apparel group has simultaneously sold off businesses, such as G.H. Bass & Co., while focusing on its two core global brands consisting of Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger.

“This strategic announcement aligns with PVH’s goal to optimize and streamline its heritage brands business in the ever-evolving retail environment and focus on delivering sustainable profitable growth of its global brands, Calvin Klein and Tommy Hilfiger. I am pleased to see Pentland Group reunite the Speedo business globally, as they are best positioned to capture the full potential of the iconic Speedo brand,” said Emanuel Chirico, PVH’s CEO, in a statement.

“We’ve had a great partnership with PVH and they’ve done an incredible job in raising the profile of the Speedo brand and growing the business in North America during their time as licensee,” said Andy Long, the CEO of Pentland Group’s brand division, in a statement. “With the Tokyo Games this year, now is the right time to bring Speedo North America back into our brand portfolio,” Long added.

In addition to Speedo International, Pentland owns the Berghaus, Canterbury, Ellesse and SeaVees brands. PVH, meanwhile, owns the Van Heusen, IZOD, Arrow, Warner’s, Olga, Geoffrey Beene and True&Co. brands, all of which are part of the company’s heritage brands business.