Under the transaction structure, Authentic will own a 51% stake in a newly formed entity that will own and license substantially all of Guess?’s intellectual property and assume the vast majority of Guess?’s product licensing agreements. The remaining 49% of this entity will be owned by Guess? Co-Founders Maurice and Paul Marciano, Nicolai Marciano and Guess? CEO Carlos Alberini.
The Guess? operating entity and its subsidiaries will be taken private and be wholly owned by the current management team. The operating company will continue under its existing leadership and structure, preserving the strong teams and global platform behind its success.
The deal is subject to regulatory and other closing conditions and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of Guess?’s 2026 fiscal year.
Houthoff advises Authentic in this matter together with Latham & Watkins. The Houthoff team, led by Willem Liedenbaum, further consists of Esmee de Bos, Wijnand Peelen, Eva Luna de Boer, Floris Hekkens, Paul de Vries, Marijn van Horen, Sabine Gerlofs, Jeroen Vossenberg, Derk von Saher, Anouk Boutens, Myrthe Prinsze, Joep Meester, Jeroen van Mourik, Lars Bakker, Thomas de Weerd, Marco Moeskops and Lucy de Graaf.
