Scandal-Ridden Brands Owned by Peter Nygard Are Up for Sale
Women’s apparel and denim brands owned by embattled businessman Peter Nygard are up for sale.
Hilco Streambank, an intellectual property advisory firm specializing in the valuation and sale of intangible assets, announced Thursday that it is selling the intellectual property assets of the company Nygard International Partnership, including the trademarks associated with the Alia, TanJay and Nygard brands.
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The announcement follows months of salacious headlines and troubling accusations for Nygard, who stepped down from his company in February after the Federal Bureau of Investigations raided his Manhattan quarters over sexual assault allegations. The company filed for bankruptcy in mid-March in both the U.S. and Canada.
In February, 10 women filed a civil class-action lawsuit accusing the Canadian millionaire of raping them at his estate in the Bahamas and operating what they refer to as a “sex trafficking ring” between 2008 and 2015. In many cases, the alleged victims were under 18 years old.
An additional 36 women have been added to a lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that Nygard “conspired to and did recruit, lure and entice young, impressionable, and often impoverished children and women, with cash payments and false promises of lucrative modeling opportunities or other career opportunities to assault, rape and sodomize them.”
It also claims that a “close ring” of Nygard executives conspired to enable and conceal this activity, and noted that over the past decade at least nine women in Canada and California have sued Nygard or reported him to authorities, alleging sexual misconduct. Another nine former employees said in interviews that he raped them, inappropriately touched them or proposed sex. The company arranged to pay off victims and to sign non-disclosure agreements in some cases.
Though Nygard stepped down and said he would begin to divest his ownership, the lawsuit states otherwise and claims “he calls all the shots and is accountable to no one.”
Hilco Streambank is seeking a buyer for one or more of the brands. Inventory is also available. Offers for the company are due on July 7, and an auction will be held on July 9.
Hilco Streambank senior vice president Richelle Kalnit stated that the company’s brands, which are sold in Canada and the U.S., have annual sales of more than $105 million through wholesale partners and nearly $110 million through the company’s retail and e-commerce channels.
Touting the diversity of the brands’ product assortments, including the company’s proprietary SLIMcurve Technology for denim, Kalnit said a buyer of one or more of the brands has an “opportunity to continue to build on the Company’s robust omnichannel offerings and continue to provide the customer the styles on which she has come to rely.”