Brown Advisory has made an investment in Jacob Ash Holdings, a designer and importer of men’s and children’s winter apparel accessories, to back the company’s merger with Emanuel Geraldo Accessories, a designer and importer of women’s fall and spring apparel accessories.
“Jacob Ash has demonstrated a long track record of strong performance and is one of the leading merchandisers in winter apparel accessories. They have a blue-chip customer base and with the addition of Emanuel Geraldo, the company is poised to achieve significant growth going forward. We are pleased to be a part of the investment group,” said Brian Dettmann, co-head of private equity. Mr. Dettmann and Ryland Sumner led the transaction for Brown Advisory.
Jacob Ash designs, merchandises, sources and distributes winter apparel accessories – including gloves, headwear and related cold-weather apparel – to virtually all channels of the retail market in the US. The company primarily focuses on men’s and children’s product lines and markets its products under the private label brands of its customers or its own brands including Hot Shot and Igloos. The company was founded in 1930 and is headquartered near Pittsburgh in McKees Rocks, PA.
Emanuel Geraldo is a designer, importer and merchandiser of fall and spring apparel accessories—such as gloves, headwear, scarves and wraps—primarily for women. Most of its products are sold on a private label basis to a customer base of over 60 mass merchandisers, department stores and specialty retailers in the US and Canada. The company was founded in 1982 and is headquartered in Montreal and has production offices in Hangzhou, China and a sales office in New York (www.emanuelgeraldo.com).
According to Brown Advisory the combination of Jacob Ash and Emanuel Geraldo will diversify and expand product offerings and accelerate long-term growth by introducing new product lines to existing customers. In addition, Emanuel Geraldo’s operation in China creates opportunity for more efficient product sourcing.
The private equity group of Brown Advisory invests up to $20 million per transaction across a variety of industries and will consider control positions, minority equity and mezzanine investments.
Brown Advisory is an investment management firm with principal offices in Baltimore and Washington, DC, as well as in Boston; New York; Wilmington, DE; Chapel Hill, NC; and London (www.brownadvisory.com).
© 2015 PEPD • Private Equity’s Leading News Magazine • 3-13-15
