VF Corp announced, on Monday, their plans to acquire the maker of Dickies brand work wear—the 100-year old Williamson-Dickie Manufacturing that makes blue collar uniforms and hospital scrubs, as well as the Kodiak work boots brand. Valued at $820 million, this is the company’s first big deal since its incomparable pick up of Timberland six years ago.
When the deal goes through, it will reportedly double VF Corp’s present workwear business: to $1.7 billion in annual revenue, explains VF Chief Executive Steve Rendle. He goes on to say, “As we develop our 2021 strategy and look for ways to accelerate growth in our workwear platform, the highly fragmented nature of the $30 billion global workwear market offers several unique acquisition opportunities.”
Rendle also notes that “Williamson-Dickie is one of the largest companies in the work sector and has a diverse, global portfolio of iconic brands and a deep heritage in authenticity.”
Rendle also comments, “You’ve seen us divesting, but what you don’t see is the increased activity we have around looking at acquisition opportunities. We’re looking at the usage occasions that our core consumers focus on in their day-to-day lives, and we’re trying to find opportunities for us to move beyond the products and categories that we supply them today and into new parts of their lives.”
In addition, Rendle makes sure to note that this is really just the beginning. Commenting that the company is “not finished,” he also says remain committed to continuously improving their portfolio, working towards transformational moves that will steadily evolve the company, just as they always have.
As for Williamson, he makes sure to also note: “For nearly a century we’ve worked hard to judiciously grow our company and portfolio of strong brands to maintain our leadership in the global workwear marketplace.”
Williamson adds, Today’s announcement is an authentic and natural next step as we look to combine the strengths of our two companies to create significant opportunities for our employees, vendors, retail partners and ultimately our customers. We expect that under VF’s leadership, we’ll be able to experience the next wave of growth and better meet the needs of workers everywhere.”
