Wolverine Worldwide has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Keds, LLC has sold the Champion trademarks for footwear in the U.S. and Canada to HanesBrands Inc (its licensee for over 35 years) for $90 million in cash. As part of the agreement, Wolverine retains a perpetual license to continue using the Champion trademark on certain footwear styles, including the Keds Champion sneaker that has been a mainstay of its Keds brand for some decades. “The transaction also successfully resolves outstanding litigation between the parties,” says a press release by Wolverine, referring to the legal battle the two companies Hanes and Keds have fought out in the past over the license agreement. According to a 2021 article in sourcingjournal, both companies have filed multiple lawsuits against each other for breaching the license contract, a conflict that culminated in the Keds company threatening to terminate the license agreement by the end of last year. “This transaction represents a unique opportunity to simplify our business model while at the same time securing a significant amount of cash at a meaningful multiple of future expected royalty streams,” said Brendan Hoffman, Wolverine Worldwide’s president and chief executive officer.

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