David Zolot has joined Neuberger Berman Private Equity as a principal, with a key focus on identifying and executing on acquisitions for Marquee Brands.
Marquee Brands is a brand management firm that acquires the intellectual property of consumer brands, and then works with licensees to position and develop the brand. Neuberger Berman is Marquee’s sponsor. In February, Marquee Brands Partners completed a $462 million capital raise, which was oversubscribed. The raise makes Marquee the only brand management firm that has a dedicated fund that it can tap into for deals, without having to go out and raise capital for a pending deal or access the credit markets to finance one. That advantage allows Marquee to complete deals without any of the parties connected to the transaction having to worry about financial contingencies.
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Zolot has a background in mergers and acquisitions, as well as at brand management firms. Prior to joining Neuberger, he was a senior vice president of corporate development at Saban Brands, also a brand management firm. While there, he oversaw corporate development, brand acquisitions and corporate finance initiatives. He was also at Iconix Brand Group, which is considered the firm that started the current wave in the brand management business model. While at Iconix, Zolot was vice president of strategic development, where he worked on acquisitions, minority investments and financing deals. Zolot was also previously affiliated with investment banking Peter J. Solomon, which focuses on the apparel, retail and the consumer products sectors.
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Zolot said, “I look forward to helping Marquee leverage by global network and experience to complete acquisitions of high-quality consumer brands.”
Marquee’s acquisitions include Italian footwear brand Bruno Magli — in January 2015 for $33.6 million — and British fashion brand Ben Sherman, in July 2015 for $63.7 million.
Marquee is under the leadership of president Michael DeVirgilio and chief operating officer Cory M. Baker. Neuberger Berman established Marquee Brands in September 2014. The brand management firm seeks IP assets primarily of U.S. and European brands.