VF Corp. is ditching Dickies, its struggling workwear brand, for $600 million in cash to Bluestar Alliance. The deal will allow the Denver-based apparel giant — which also owns The North Face, Timberland, JanSport and Vans — to pay down debt and double down on categories with brighter prospects.
For Bluestar, the acquisition adds another familiar name to its $10 billion portfolio of global brands, which it sells through a platform of more than 500 stores worldwide. The company owns Bebe, Off-White, Brookstone, Tahari and Limited Too, and is known for scooping up distressed but recognizable labels.
But Dickies isn’t VF’s only headache. The bigger crisis is Vans, a once-dominant brand now in spectacular implosion. Sales fell 15% in the most recent quarter.
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