Liberated Brands is now bankrupt.
The apparel firm held the license to the former Boardriders brands until new owner Authentic Brands Group pulled the licenses in December. The brand management firm disclosed in March that it was acquiring the action sports holdings from Oaktree Capital Management L.P. Authentic closed on the deal for Boardriders—reportedly in the $1.2 billion range—in September 2023. The portfolio brands under Boardriders include Billabong, Quiksilver, RVCA, DC Shoes, Roxy, Element, VonZipper and Honolua. The brands were complementary to Authentic’s ownership of Volcom.
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The Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Liberated was named Authentic’s license partner and wholesale distributer for Billabong, RVCA and Honolua in the U.S. and Canada, for sportswear, activewear, swimwear and other categories. Authentic had a working relationship with Liberated as it was already the core licensee and operating partner for Authentic’s Volcom and Spyder brands.
Liberated filed its Chapter 11 petition in a Delaware banrkuptcy court on Sunday. Liberated CEO and founder Todd Hymel said in a court document that the company, which saw revenue rise to $422 million in 2022, cite several headwinds creating liquidity challenges in 2024 that include rising interest rates, supply chain delays, decline in customer demand and “duplicative fixed costs” connected with transitioning the legacy Boardriders infrastructure to Liberated’s processes.
Hymel said the company’s efforts to stabilize the business included seeking potential investments, exploring a sale of the company, and renegotiating leases with various landlords, among other options. The CEO said that while there was interest, the process did not result in any actionable transaction. And he said that Liberated’s North American license rights for its wholesale operations under the Volcom, RVCA and Billabong brands were terminated due its default under the associated licenses.
Given its liquidity constraints last December and into January, Hymel said “vendors began holding back in-transit inventory as well as pending inventory shipments for the spring 2025 season.” Those hold-backs reduced Liberated’s borrowing base under its prepetition asset-based lending facility by more than $10 million, Hymel said.
The Chapter 11 petition listed assets and liabilities each at between $100 million to $500 million. Eight affiliates that operated retail stores also filed Chapter 11 petitions. Those stores, which included banners for Billabong, Quiksilver and Volcom, began liquidation sales last week.
According to the list of the top 30 unsecured creditors, Ningbo Jehson Textiles, Ningbo, China, is listed as the largest claim holder at nearly $3.2 billion. Other textiles and apparel firms include Dongyang Yilong Garments Co Ltd, Dongyang, China, at nearly $1.8 million and Gramtech Knit, Dying, Fin & Garm. Ind. Ltd, Bangladesh, at $1.6 million, among others. Many suppliers listed as unsecured creditors are located in Ningbo, China, some in Bangladesh, and others across Asia that include other cities in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, India and Korea. In addition, lifestyle brands collective Centric Brands LLC is listed as an unsecured creditor owed $750,069.76.
