Rapidly Growing Luxury Lingerie Brand Will Expand PLBY Group’s Brand Portfolio and Consumer Product Infrastructure
LOS ANGELES – PLBY Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLBY) (“PLBY Group” or the “Company”), a leading pleasure and leisure lifestyle company and owner of Playboy, one of the most recognizable and iconic brands in the world, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Honey Birdette, the fast-growing, luxury lingerie and lifestyle brand. The female-founded, Australia-based business was established in 2006 and has significantly grown its consumer reach and operations to North America and Europe. The acquisition of Honey Birdette will expand PLBY Group’s brand portfolio with a new high-end franchise, and will provide PLBY Group with the product design, sourcing and direct-to-consumer capabilities that the Company will leverage to accelerate the growth of its core apparel and sexual wellness businesses.
“We are extremely excited to welcome Honey Birdette to PLBY Group,” said Ben Kohn, Chief Executive Officer of PLBY Group. “We strongly believe in the power of brands, and are thrilled by Honey Birdette’s potential to become a multi-billion-dollar luxury lifestyle franchise. I’ve been enormously impressed by Eloise and the rest of the Honey Birdette team and the organic, rapid growth they’ve driven. Our plan is two-fold: to leverage PLBY Group and the Playboy brand’s global operations to accelerate Honey Birdette’s expansion into new territories and product categories, and to take advantage of Honey Birdette’s superior product design, sourcing and direct-to-consumer capabilities to accelerate our Playboy-branded lingerie, loungewear, swimwear, and sexual wellness go-to-market plans targeting the masstige consumer. This acquisition is expected to further our mission to become the leading pleasure and leisure lifestyle platform and our commitment to deliver long-term value to our shareholders.”
The Company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire 100% of the equity of Honey Birdette for a purchase price of approximately $333 million in cash and stock. Honey Birdette expects approximately $73 million of revenue and approximately $28 million of EBITDA for the twelve months ending June 30, 2021, representing growth of over 40% and over 95%, respectively, over the prior year period. The acquisition will support the Company’s focus on expanding its leadership in the sexual wellness category and enhance its shared sourcing and product design capabilities. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.
“When I founded Honey Birdette 15 years ago, my ambition was to build a brand for women, by women; a brand that would serve as a platform for confidence and sexual and body empowerment. I am immensely proud of everything we’ve accomplished – with 60 thriving stores across three countries – powered by 350 fierce female ambassadors,” said Eloise Monaghan, Founder and Managing Director of Honey Birdette. “Today is a momentous and proud day for the Honey Birdette team as we enter into partnership with one of the world’s most iconic brands and the lifestyle platform it represents. I’m thrilled to join Ben and the whole PLBY Group team on a mission to build a lifestyle of pleasure for all.”
Building upon its existing digital commerce and brick-and-mortar retail platform, Honey Birdette is focused on expanding its retail footprint across the US, UK and Europe. In the US, new flagship stores will open in the coming months in Dallas, Miami and New York. In addition to regularly released lingerie collections featuring exclusive designs and embroidery, the high-end brand is soon releasing new loungewear, swimwear and essentials collections.
The Sage Group served as exclusive financial adviser to Honey Birdette.