Consumer Retail

What we do

A Globally Recognized, Trusted Advisor to Leading Consumer, Retail and Next Generation Companies

The Solomon Partners Consumer Retail group provides strategic and financial advisory services to public and private companies in the retail, consumer, and leisure & lifestyle industries and across all channels, including direct-to-consumer, wholesale, and experiential:

Our Consumer Retail team provides M&A, financing and restructuring advisory services to clients ranging from multinational, large-capitalization corporations to emerging, high-growth, privately held and sponsor-owned companies. We specialize in complex public and private mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, spin-offs, and other strategic advisory assignments, with a proven track record of successfully generating long-term shareholder value for our clients. We also advise our clients on optimized debt and equity financing solutions across both the private and public capital markets, focused only on which solutions best meet our clients’ capital needs, given prevailing market conditions. Furthermore, as has been the case since our founding, all of our advice is free of conflicts of interest, as we do not lend or underwrite.

Our deep industry knowledge and creative deal-making ability helps our clients across all areas of consumer and retail to achieve their strategic and financial goals. We have advised a diverse group of consumer products and retailing companies, including Chico’s, Conair, Hibbett, Hudson’s Bay Company, The J.M. Smucker Company, Keurig Dr. Pepper, L.L. Bean, Lululemon, PVH, Tractor Supply, Under Armour, VF Corporation, and Walmart.

Our bankers have significant experience working with founders, entrepreneurs, families, and executives of both public and privately held companies. We recognize the intricacies of early stage, high-growth businesses and help entrepreneurs reach the next stages of their companies’ life cycle by raising growth capital, forming strategic partnerships, and, when the time is right, monetizing their business. Recent examples of our work with entrepreneurial companies include advising the founders and founding families of FATTY Smoked Meat Sticks, Flight Club, FortNine, Max Finkelstein Inc., Moose Knuckles, Nature’s Bakery and SoulCycle in their sales. These transactions allowed owners to recognize value today for future growth while diversifying their wealth to focus on new ventures.

We have unparalleled expertise advising clients through the sale of intellectual property to major brand licensing companies. Our relationships and execution experience with these complex processes have resulted in successful transactions for our clients that position their business for the next phase of growth. Recent relevant transactions include advising Draper James, PVH, rag & bone, Vera Wang, Vince, and Walmart in their IP sales of certain assets.

Solomon Partners also has extensive experience successfully navigating Special Committees through highly scrutinized sale processes with significant shareholders to maximize value for all stakeholders. Our team is equipped to handle all elements of the transaction, from providing a fairness opinion to running a full M&A or restructuring process. As a result of our independence and lack of conflicts, we have advised on many high-profile transactions for clients, including American Apparel, American Greetings, Black Rifle Coffee Company, Boulder Brands, Nutraceutical, Perry Ellis, Sears Hometown & Outlet, SkullCandy, and Stein Mart.

Our Consumer Retail team delivers valuable cross-sector perspectives and capabilities via seamless collaboration with our bankers across technology, software, data & analytics, healthcare, fintech & payments, distribution and media sectors.