Authentic Brands Group Appoints Zina Zegans as VP of Lifestyle, Igniting a New Era

Authentic Brands Group has secured another significant appointment.

Only days after appointing Matt Maddox as president of the firm, they have welcomed Zina Zegans to bolster its lifestyle segment.

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Zegans, previously the chief brand officer at Nicole Miller, has been appointed executive vice president of lifestyle, overseeing the brands within Authentic’s lifestyle division: Aéropostale, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Forever 21, Lucky Brand, and Nautica.

Zegans brings over twenty years of expertise in marketing, licensing, branding, and merchandising. Before her role at Nicole Miller, she was the president of the licensing division at Steve Madden, managing both the Steve Madden and Betsey Johnson licensing portfolios. Additionally, she has held high-level leadership positions at Elizabeth & James, Brian Atwood, and Superga.

With a current valuation of $20 billion, Authentic is continuously broadening its scope. Recently, the organization collaborated with Simon Property Group, Brookfield Corp., and Shein to establish Catalyst Brands, which will encompass Authentic’s lifestyle brands alongside JCPenney. Furthermore, the recruitment of Maddox, the prior CEO of Wynn Resorts, has sparked speculations that Authentic might once again consider an initial public offering, a strategy initiated in 2021 but subsequently halted after CVC Capital and HPS Investment Partners, along with other shareholders, including BlackRock, Simon Property Group, and Leonard Green & Partners acquired substantial equity in Authentic.

Revisiting those intentions or pursuing new investors are both possibilities, according to sources who referenced a recent Bloomberg report indicating that the investor group is negotiating to acquire BlackRock’s equity stake, valued at $3 billion or more. BlackRock’s Long-Term Private Capital Fund invested $875 million for the stake in 2019, but that fund is now being shuttered.

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