Wolverine World Wide stated on Thursday it plans to promote its Hush Puppies mental property in China, Hong Kong, and Macau, and its U.S. Wolverine leathers business, the latest within the trimming of its model portfolio.
The Rockford, Michigan-based firm has entered right into a definitive settlement to promote the Hush Puppies logos, patents, copyrights and domains in China, Hong Kong and Macau to its present sublicensee, Beijing Jiaman Dress Co., for roughly $58.8 million.
As a part of the transaction, the 2 events have entered right into a license and cooperation settlement offering for mutual engagement and model stewardship of the Hush Puppies model within the area.
As a consequence, Wolverine will proceed to personal and function the Hush Puppies model all through the remainder of the world. The transaction is anticipated to shut within the coming weeks topic to satisfaction of customary closing situations.
“Our strategic approach in China, Hong Kong and Macau is to focus on our biggest brands, and selling the Hush Puppies intellectual property in these countries is a part of this strategy,” stated Chris Hufnagel, president and chief govt officer of Wolverine Worldwide.
“Hush Puppies remains an important brand in our portfolio, and we are committed to growing it through strong global licensing partnerships and expanding our connections with local consumers. We look forward to partnering with Beijing Jiaman Dress and to ensuring the global success of Hush Puppies.”
The firm additionally stated it has accomplished the sale of its U.S. Wolverine leathers business to New Balance, for roughly $6 million in complete proceeds. The firm assigned Wolverine’s U.S. tannery contracts to New Balance, and continues to discover alternate options for the non-U.S. Wolverine leathers business, it stated.
“These transactions are the latest actions in our ongoing effort to reshape our portfolio and target our most meaningful opportunities,” stated Mike Stornant, govt vp and chief monetary officer of Wolverine Worldwide.
“We continue to streamline our organization and become more efficient, so that we can direct greater resources into our growth brands, pay down debt, and enhance long-term shareholder value.”
The sale of Hush Puppies Greater China and its U.S. leathers business follows the corporate’s lately accomplished sale of Keds to Designer Brands, the guardian firm of footwear retailer DSW, and the beforehand introduced strategic alternate options course of for Wolverine’s Sperry model in May this yr.
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