The U.S. footwear and apparel retailer has reached an agreement to sell the Hush Puppies footwear brand’s trademarks, patents, copyrights and domains in China, Hong Kong and Macau, Wolverine World Wide announced on Friday.
An agreement has been reached with current sub-licensee Beijing Jiaman Dress Co., which will license and oversee the footwear business in the regions, for a total of US$58.8 million. In the rest of the world, Wolverine will continue to own and operate the Hush Puppies brand.
The sale is intended to enable the company to focus fully on its largest markets, according to Chris Hufnagel, Wolverine’s President and Chief Executive Officer.
At the same time, Wolverine also announced the sale of the US company Wolverine Leather. This will be taken over by the shoe and lifestyle brand New Balance. The deal, which transferred the group’s US gerberi contracts to New Balance, is valued at around $6 million. Alternatives continue to be evaluated for Wolverine Leather’s business outside of the United States, the release said.
The transactions are part of the company’s effort to transform its portfolio, said Mike Stornant, Wolverine Worldwide executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We will continue to streamline our organization and make it more efficient so that we can focus more resources on our growth brands, reduce debt and increase long-term shareholder value.”