FeedVince

Vince15 September 2026

Vince runs Drake's OVO on a licence from Authentic, the same arrangement it has run its own name on since 2023

Vince, which sold its own name to Authentic in 2023, is now the operating company behind Drake's OVO. The purchase closed on 24 August 2026. The licence terms are in the 8-K Vince filed on 27 August, agreement attached, and the quarterly report filed on 11 September books the deal under subsequent events. Authentic's new subsidiary ABG OVO bought the intellectual property; Vince's subsidiary OWL Opco bought the three operating companies in Canada, the United States and Britain, and took them free of the OVO debt, which the sellers were required to repay, and the liens behind it discharged, before the shares moved. Vince put no money into that repayment. Legal and consulting fees on the deal came to about 2.9 million dollars in the quarter, and if Authentic moves to hand any of a listed set of European countries, the United Kingdom among them, to another licensee, Vince gets first offer to keep them. On the results call Brendan Hoffman, chief executive, put the plan at roughly 20 doors by 2030, with the growth aimed at the United States. Vince's 25% of ABG Vince booked 1.59 million dollars of equity income in fiscal 2025. Peerless makes the Vince tailored clothing under an Authentic licence announced in 2023, and Centric Brands was named the Vince handbag licensee in 2024. Authentic can also remove a wholesale account approved at the 2023 closing if, in its good faith, commercially reasonable judgment, the account no longer fits the brand. Drake keeps 44% of the OVO name and a hand in its creative direction; the stores, the stock and the royalty bill are Vince's.

The weekly

NewsletterWeekly One email a week. Every post from the week, and what didn't fit on a slide.
Free. Never shared. Unsubscribe any time.

The post, as it ran

01VINCE NOW RUNS DRAKE'S OVO. IT LICENSES BOTH NAMES FROM AUTHENTIC.
02OVO CHANGED HANDS ON 24 AUGUST. AUTHENTIC BOUGHT THE TRADEMARKS. VINCE BOUGHT THE 12 STORES, THE ONLINE BUSINESS AND THE WHOLESALE ACCOUNTS, AND PAYS A ROYALTY TO USE THE NAME.
03VINCE ALSO BOUGHT 5% OF THE COMPANY THAT HOLDS THE NAME, FOR $6,000,000. AUTHENTIC HOLDS 51%. DRAKE KEEPS 44%.
04THE LICENCE RUNS TO THE END OF VINCE'S 2036 FINANCIAL YEAR, WITH THREE OPTIONS TO RENEW FOR SEVEN YEARS EACH.
05THE ROYALTY IS A SINGLE-DIGIT PERCENTAGE ON RETAIL AND ONLINE SALES, AND 10% OR LOWER ON WHOLESALE. AUTHENTIC CAN END THE DEAL IF VINCE DROPS BELOW A MINIMUM STORE COUNT.
06THE CORE TERRITORY IS THE UNITED STATES AND CANADA. THE UNITED KINGDOM, WHERE OVO HAS A STORE, IS OPTION TERRITORY: AUTHENTIC CAN WITHDRAW IT BY WRITTEN NOTICE, BUT BEFORE IT GOES TO ANOTHER LICENSEE, VINCE GETS FIRST OFFER.
07CORE PRODUCTS: SPORTSWEAR, OUTERWEAR AND GOLF APPAREL. HEADWEAR, HOSIERY AND HYDRATION BOTTLES ARE OPTION PRODUCTS, ON A LIST AUTHENTIC CAN CHANGE ON ITS OWN.
08VINCE KNOWS THE ARRANGEMENT. IN MAY 2023 IT SOLD ITS OWN NAME TO AUTHENTIC FOR $76.5 MILLION IN CASH PLUS 25% OF THE HOLDING COMPANY, THEN LICENSED IT BACK.
09THAT LICENCE REQUIRES AT LEAST 45 STORES AND SHOP-IN-SHOPS AND RUNS TO FISCAL 2032, WITH OPTIONS TO RENEW EIGHT TIMES. IN APRIL, BEFORE OVO, THE ANNUAL REPORT SAID LOSING IT 'WOULD CAUSE US TO LOSE ALL OUR REVENUES'.
10SINCE 2023 AUTHENTIC HAS LICENSED VINCE MEN'S TAILORING, HANDBAGS AND SWIMWEAR TO OTHER COMPANIES. THE LABEL THAT BUILT THE NAME DOESN'T MAKE THE SUIT.
Open on Instagram