GQ reported:
Denver-based VF Corporation, which owns Supreme collaborators like The North Face, Timberland, and Vans, as well as workwear brands like Dickies and Napapijri, announced this morning that it will acquire Supreme for $2.1 billion. Supreme’s current investors, The Carlyle Group and Goode Partners, will sell their stakes. You may recall that Carlyle paid $500 million for a 50% stake in Supreme back in 2017; as one writer has already joked, this makes The Carlyle Group the world’s most successful Supreme reseller.
Carlyle's website never listed Supreme as an affiliate. It did not post stories on its purchase or planned sale of Supreme. Private equity is contrary to streetwear cool. That discord grew when Carlyle owned flashbangs and pepper munitions were used on peaceful protesters.
Carlyle will make at least a double on its Supreme investment. Depending on the mix of debt and equity the profit multiple could be far higher than a simple 2X.
Supreme will be leaving as The Carlyle Group at an interesting time. There is a pandemic from which to profit.