Apparel Brands Limited: A Manchester-based brand house owning and licensing fashion IP across menswear, womenswear and kids.

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About

Founded in 2017 by Peter Wood, Apparel Brands owns a portfolio of well-recognised fashion IP including Bench, Hype and Nicce, alongside a stable of globally recognised brands held under licence such as Farah, Ed Hardy and Seafolly. Products reach customers through a multi-channel platform: direct to consumer, through licensing partners, and via over 100 retailers across the UK, Europe and North America. The business runs a dual-engine model. The Licensing Division licenses owned brands to third-party partners, generating long-term recurring royalty income. The Operating Division designs, sources and distributes branded apparel and accessories, both for owned brands and those licensed in. Sourcing is global, managed by an experienced UK-based product team responsible for design, product development, sourcing and quality control.

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Our journey with Apparel Brands Limited:

We developed our relationship with ABL over several years before investing. We saw a defensible model and a compelling opportunity to scale the branded offering rapidly by adding complementary properties to the existing portfolio across the price spectrum. Apparel Brands has a proven M&A track record, with four IP acquisitions completed since inception and 14 licence agreements secured, alongside a high-quality, executable pipeline of further opportunities.

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Brand Facts

• ABL was founded in 2017 by Peter Wood.

• Profitable growth since inception at a three-year CAGR of 52%.

• The portfolio includes Bench, Nicce, Farah, Ed Hardy and Seafolly, both owned and under long-term licence.

• Named Northwest Fastest Growing Medium Business 2023, in partnership with Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

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