VF Corp. has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Williamson-Dickie for $820 million in cash. A family-owned business, Williamson-Dickie designs and manufactures workwear apparel and footwear, which it sells under a number of brands including Dickies, Workrite and others. The acquisition is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of this year. Upon closing, Williamson-Dickie will become part of VF's Imagewear coalition. VF's current workwear offerings include Wrangler, Timberland Pro, Riggs Workwear, Red Kap, Horace Small, and Bulwark. Philip Williamson, Williamson-Dickie's chief executive, will remain with the company, headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas.
On a 12-month basis, Williamson-Dickie has generated around $875 million in revenues, according to VF's release. VF's outlook for 2017 has now been updated to include the impact of the Williamson-Dickie acquisition. The group's revenues are now expected to reach $11.85 billion, up by 3.5 percent on a reported basis, or up by 4.5 percent currency-neutral, including a contribution of around $200 million from Williamson-Dickie. The previous outlook was of $11.65 billion, representing a 2 percent increase on a reported basis or a 3 percent increase excluding the impact of foreign currency.
VF has also raised its 2021 targets, with revenues that are now expected to grow at a five-year compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) between 5 and 7 percent to more than $15 billion, as compared to the previous expectation of a 4 to 6 percent five-year CAGR, including an expected contribution of around $1 billion from Williamson-Dickie.
Williamson-Dickie employs more than 7,000 people worldwide and its products are available in more than 100 countries. Its collection of brands is sold through a network of owned retail stores, franchisees, department stores, volume retailers, independent stores and online sites under the Dickies, Workrite, Kodiak, Terra, Walls, Big Smith, Liberty and Duxbak brands.
