Nike (NYSE: NKE) has agreed to sell its Starter brand to Iconix (NASDAQ: ICON) for $60 million.Starter is best known for its jackets bearing the logos of professional sports teams that were wildly popular during the early 1990s. As evidenced by the low price Nike is receiving for the brand, Starter has been in decline for years.
But the deal is consistent with the Iconix strategy of acquiring brands off the scrapheap and seeking to resuscitate them through licensing deals and clever marketing. Iconix does none of its own manufacturing, leaving it free to focus on maximizing brand value and selling licenses.
Iconix has been tremendously successful (take a look at the stock chart) with this approach, and owns brands including Rocawear, Danskin, London Fogg, Mudd, Joe Boxer, and Candie's.
Interestingly, Iconix founder and CEO Neil Cole is the less-known brother of Kenneth Cole, the founder and embattled CEO of Kenneth Cole (NYSE: KCP). Neil labored in anonymity for decades while his brother became a household name, but Iconix's market value has eclipsed that of Kenneth Cole. Still, numerous parties have called for a new CEO at that company.
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