M&A · Industrials · Women's, Misses': Children's & Infants' Undergarments
Authentic to acquire Guess Inc
Announced Aug 20, 2025 · Closed Jan 23, 2026
Deal value$1.40BEV $997M
Premium73.0%To unaffected price
EV / Adj. EBITDA3.8x0.3x EV / Revenue
ConsiderationAll cash$16.75 per share
Transaction
- Acquirer
- Authentic
- Target
- Guess Inc (GES)
- Buyer type
- Strategic
- Offer price per share
- $16.75
- Enterprise value
- $997M
- Status
- Closed Jan 23, 2026
Deal protections
- Break fee (target pays)
- $23.3M · 1.7%
- Reverse fee (buyer pays)
- —
- Go-shop
- No-shop
- Financing
- Committed · BofA Securities
Advisors
- To the acquirer
- JPMorgan
- To the target
- Solomon Partners
Sector context · Industrials
- Comparable deals
- 98 in the prior 24 months
- Premium
- 73.0% vs. 40.0% sector median
- EV / Adj. EBITDA
- 3.8x vs. 9.4x sector median
- Break fee
- 1.7% vs. 2.7% sector median
Timeline
- AnnouncedAug 20, 2025
- Proxy filedOct 3, 2025
- Definitive proxyOct 21, 2025
- Shareholder voteNov 21, 2025
- ClosedJan 23, 2026
Valuation · fairness opinions
Trading comparables$4.27$19.85
Trading comparables$10.63$31.03
Trading comparables$12.42$30.13
Precedent transactions$10.16$16.11
Discounted cash flow$14.45$22.37
Offer $16.75
Implied value per Guess Inc share by analysis · DCF discount rate 12%–14%.