Naked Brand Group is an innovative intimate fashion and lifestyle brand has announced that they have proposed a merger in a LOI (Letter Of Intent) to Bendon. In this, it stated that; Bendon would have immediate access to their US capital markets enabling it to further grow the business globally, the Naked Brand Group would be able to leverage Bendon’s well-established global wholesale and retail distribution channels, the merge would capitalise on the industry-leading expertise of Carole Hochman (Naked’s CEO) to strengthen its global intimate apparel and sleepwear brand portfolio, and the two companies would integrate their supply chain management and administrative functions. “We are extremely excited about the potential of this proposed merger, and look forward to capitalizing on Bendon’s scale and expertise to further expand the Naked brands. The Bendon team has built a phenomenal business, and by leveraging their infrastructure, product and geographic knowledge, and talent, we believe that we can accelerate our growth in the innerwear fashion and lifestyle market,” Naked Brand CEO, Carole Hochman said. If the merger was to go ahead, Hochman will become Chief Creative Officer of the merged company. Hochman is already considered one of the most influential women in the American intimate apparel world with more than 30 years of experience under her belt. Previously the driving force behind the Carole Hochman Design Group until 2013, which manufactured Carole Hochman Sleepwear, Loungewear and daywear. As well as a number of external brand sleepwear collections including Christian Dior, Oscar de la Renta, Ralph Lauren, Jockey, and many more.
“This is a transformative merger that will create a powerful creative, marketing, operational and capital markets platform. As a publicly traded company in the U.S., we expect to have an opportunity to accelerate our growth and strengthen our position as a global leader in intimate apparel, swimwear, innerwear fashion and lifestyle brands through both organic growth and strategic acquisitions. We are also delighted to partner with industry pioneer, Carole Hochman, who brings unrivalled experience to our company and whose expertise is expected to not only strengthen our existing brands but to provide us with an unprecedented opportunity to develop our sleepwear business, a product category that represents a significant growth opportunity,” said Justin Davis-Rice, Executive Chairman of Bendon.
Bendon’s headquarters can be found in Auckland, but also maintains additionals offices in Sydney, New York, Hong Kong and London. Their current stable of brands are distributed in over 4,000 stores across 34 countries. They also have a growing network of 60 company-owned Bendon retail and outlet stores in Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. Bendon’s existing brands include; Bendon, Bendon Man, Davenport, Evollove, Hickory, Heidi Klum Intimates, Heidi Klum Swim, Stella McCartney Lingerie, Stella McCartney Swimwear, Pleasure State and Lovable.
Bendon’s majority shareholder, Eric Watson also added, “This is an incredible opportunity for Bendon to strengthen its leadership in the industry and drive the continued growth of the business as a consolidator of globally recognized brands.”
