Funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management, LLC, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “Apollo”, and NIKE, Inc. have announced that Nike and affiliates of Apollo have entered into a strategic partnership for an apparel supply chain in the Americas. This innovative strategic partnership will increase regional manufacturing capabilities, enable quicker delivery of a more customized product to consumers and drive investment in sustainability.
Apollo Global Management, together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “Apollo”, is a leading global alternative investment manager with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, Bethesda, Toronto, London, Frankfurt, Madrid, Luxembourg, Mumbai, Delhi, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. Apollo had assets under management of approximately $186 billion as of June 30, 2016, in private equity, credit and real estate funds invested across a core group of nine industries where Apollo has considerable knowledge and resources.
To establish the strategic partnership, a new apparel supply chain company has acquired the existing apparel suppliers in North and Central America and plans to invest in advancing their manufacturing operations and expertise to produce innovative, technical and customized apparel. In addition, this new company expects to acquire additional textile and apparel suppliers in the Americas in order to broaden and diversify its capabilities and product offerings. This will create a more vertically-integrated apparel ecosystem – from materials suppliers and apparel manufacturers, to final embellishment, warehousing and logistics.
“We are excited to be working with Apollo to rethink a new supply chain model to revolutionize apparel manufacturing in the Americas,” said Nike Chief Operating Officer, Eric Sprunk. “The new company, under Apollo’s leadership, is committed to embedding sustainability and transparency into the business, investing in new technology, vertically integrating critical elements of the supply chain and delivering the best Nike performance product to our retail and sports partners.”
Josh Harris, Co-Founder and Senior Managing Director of Apollo, said: “We see a tremendous opportunity to meet the rising demand for responsive apparel manufacturing to serve increasing consumer expectations for products delivered when and where they want them. We intend to work with management to develop a regional supplier capable of servicing the needs of a wide variety of customers, and we are particularly enthusiastic to be working with such an iconic brand as Nike. While Nike has not made a capital investment in the company, this strategic partnership is a testament to Nike’s commitment to increasing regional manufacturing capabilities, driving investment in innovation and creating long-term growth.”
While terms of the agreements were not disclosed, Apollo has announced that the new supply chain company has acquired two businesses to form the cornerstone of this strategy: the apparel manufacturer, New Holland, and the embellishment, warehousing and logistics operator, ArtFX. The investment is made by the Apollo-managed Special Situations I fund.