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The Estée Lauder Companies to Acquire Tom Ford
- Client News
- November 16, 2022
Paul, Weiss is advising The Estée Lauder Companies Inc. in its acquisition of luxury brand Tom Ford. The deal values the total enterprise at $2.8 billion. Estée Lauder will pay approximately $2.3 billion after a $250 million payment at closing from leading Italian eyewear company Marcolin S.p.A. to Estée Lauder. The transaction will be funded through a combination of cash, debt and $300 million in deferred payments to the sellers that become due in July 2025.
The deal will extend and expand the Tom Ford brand’s longstanding relationship with Italian luxury brand Ermenegildo Zegna N.V. to include a long-term license for all men’s and women’s fashion, as well as accessories and underwear. As part of this transaction, Zegna will acquire operations of the Tom Ford fashion business necessary to perform its obligations as licensee. Tom Ford’s current license with Marcolin will also be substantially extended.
Under the terms of the agreement, Tom Ford, founder and CEO of Tom Ford International, will continue to serve as the brand’s creative visionary after closing and through the end of 2023. The deal is expected to close in the first half of next year, subject to regulatory approvals and other conditions.
The Paul, Weiss team is led by corporate partners Krishna Veeraraghavan and Laura Turano, and intellectual property partner Claudine Meredith-Goujon, and also includes corporate partner Caith Kushner; intellectual property counsel Bonnie Chen; tax partner Robert Holo; executive compensation partner Jarrett Hoffman; real estate partner Peter Fisch; litigation partners Lynn Bayard, Gregory Laufer and Geoffrey Chepiga, and counsel Peter Jaffe, Steven Herzog and Darren Johnson; restructuring partner Elizabeth McColm; antitrust counsel Marta Kelly; and environmental counsel William O'Brien.