Honey Birdette to be acquired by PLBY Group
The Honey Birdette luxury lingerie brand is to be acquired by Playboy owner PLBY Group for $333 million in cash and stock.
Founded by Eloise Monaghan in Australia in 2006, Honey Birdette has since expanded into North America and Europe and now expects to deliver around $73 million in revenue and EBITDA of $28 million in the year to 30 June. This represents respective growth of over 40% and 95% on the prior year.
In a statement, PLBY Group said the acquisition will support its focus on expanding its leadership in the sexual wellness category and enhance its shared sourcing and product design capabilities. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2021.
Ben Kohn, chief executive of PLBY Group, explained: “We strongly believe in the power of brands, and are thrilled by Honey Birdette’s potential to become a multi-billion-dollar luxury lifestyle franchise. I’ve been enormously impressed by Eloise and the rest of the Honey Birdette team and the organic, rapid growth they’ve driven.
“Our plan is two-fold: to leverage PLBY Group and the Playboy brand’s global operations to accelerate Honey Birdette’s expansion into new territories and product categories, and to take advantage of Honey Birdette’s superior product design, sourcing and direct-to-consumer capabilities to accelerate our Playboy-branded lingerie, loungewear, swimwear, and sexual wellness go-to-market plans targeting the masstige consumer.”
Honey Birdette continues to expand in the US, UK and Europe and will be opening new flagship stores in Dallas, Miami and New York in the coming months.
