Authentic Brands taps Tapestry, Saks alum as CFO

Dive Brief:

Global brand management company Authentic Brands Group has tapped Tapestry alum Kevin Wills, as its CFO, the company announced Thursday in a press release. Wills’ appointment is effective immediately, a company spokesperson told CFO Dive via email.
A veteran in the fashion and retail industries who logged a 16-year tenure at the department store chain Saks Inc., Wills most recently served as CFO for travel center operator Pilot Company, according to the release. Prior to joining the Pilot Company, Wills served as CFO for Tapestry Inc., the parent company of luxury fashion brands Coach, Kate Spade and Stuart Weitzman. He has also served as CFO for global consulting firm AlixPartners.
Wills’ experience within the industry “makes him uniquely qualified to support Authentic’s expansion and accelerate our brand-building playbook worldwide,” CEO and Chairman Jamie Salter said in a statement included in the release.

Dive Insight:

Wills’ hiring comes as the conglomerate — whose brand portfolio includes Forever 21, Lucky Brand, Nine West, and Reebok — may be reconsidering going public after halting a bid to do so in late 2021.

The company filed for an initial public offering in 2021 before withdrawing its application, instead selling a $12.7 billion equity stake in the business to stakeholders including private equity firm CVC Capital, according to a 2021 CNBC report. The company would target an IPO in 2023 or 2024, Salter said at the time.

Head shot of Kevin Wills — Kevin Wills

Courtesy of Authentic Brands

Late last month, the retail conglomerate announced a $500 million follow-on investment from its existing investor, General Atlantic which first invested in the company in 2017 — bringing its total invested capital in the company to $2 billion, Authentic Brands said.

The investment brings the retail conglomerate’s total valuation up to over $20 billion, a company spokesperson confirmed to CFO Dive in an email. Its portfolio of over 40 brands generates over $25 billion in global annual retail sales, according to the retail conglomerate.

Authentic Brands declined to comment on any plans to go public or on details of Wills’ appointment beyond those included in its Thursday press release.