Investment Firm Completes Acquisition of Varsity Brands

DALLAS, TEXAS and NEW YORK, NEW YORK (August 26, 2024) – Varsity Brands and investment firm KKR announced the completion of the acquisition of Varsity Brands by KKR from Bain Capital and Charlesbank. As the new majority owner of Varsity Brands, KKR will support Varsity Brands as it continues to grow its business.

Varsity Brands is a national marketer, manufacturer and distributor of customized team uniform and apparel solutions and team-specific sporting goods and equipment serving more than 150,000 customers, including colleges, universities, schools, club teams and recreational programs. It has strong, long-standing relationships with global athletic brands such as Nike, adidas, Under Armour, New Balance and lululemon. Varsity Brands is also a leading organizer of cheerleading competitions and training camp programs.

“Today is a pivotal moment for Varsity Brands as we welcome KKR as our new investor,” said Adam Blumenfeld, CEO of Varsity Brands. “We see immense growth potential as we advance our mission to support teams, schools and communities, elevating the experience for young people nationwide.”

“We look forward to working alongside Adam and his passionate team to support their strategy for growing Varsity Brands’ platform in new markets and categories while continuing to deliver exceptional products, services and contributions to the sports and education ecosystems,” said Angad Singh, Director at KKR.

KKR will support Varsity Brands in creating a broad-based equity ownership program to provide all the Company’s employees with the opportunity to participate in the benefits of ownership. This strategy is based on the belief that team member engagement through ownership is a key driver in building stronger companies. Since 2011, more than 50 KKR portfolio companies have awarded billions of dollars of total equity value to more than 100,000 non-senior management employees.

KKR is making this investment primarily through its North America Fund XIII. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.