Perry Wolfman has been named president and chief operating officer of Authentic Brands Group, an intellectual property firm that acquires, manages and builds consumer brands. He will report to James Salter, chairman and chief executive officer of ABG.
Wolfman was founder, ceo and president of Consolidated Apparel Group, a men’s private label sportswear firm he sold to Hartmarx Corp. in 2001. More recently, he’s been an investor in several real estate, Internet and marketing firms.
ABG’s only property it manages so far is the Bob Marley business. According to Salter, ABG will own and control the brands and license out the categories. Among the industries in which they’re looking to acquire companies are media, home, apparel, celebrity and sporting goods, said Wolfman. Salter said he has two letters of intent under contract and expects them to be completed within 30 to 60 days. One is in the celebrity world, and the other is in the sporting goods-action sports category.
Earlier this month, ABG completed a $250 million equity capital raise with Green Equity Investors V LP, an affiliate of Leonard Green & Partners LP; Knight’s Bridge Capital Partners Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Counsel Corp., and Salter. “We hope to raise another $250 million in senior debt,” said Salter, adding, “Our goal is to buy between six and 10 companies over the next 24 months.” The target acquisition size is between $50 million and $150 million.