October’s Very Own is about to level up in a big way from a business standpoint that is.
Authentic Brands Group has acquired a 51 percent majority stake in the intellectual property of OVO, the Toronto-born luxury streetwear and lifestyle label co-founded by Drake. The deal gives Authentic control of the brand’s IP while Drake keeps a 44 percent ownership position and remains deeply involved in the creative direction that has defined OVO since its rise.
The structure of the deal is where things get particularly interesting.
Authentic’s ownership of the intellectual property will sit alongside Vince Holding Corp., which is 75 percent owned by Authentic. Vince has acquired OVO’s physical operating business and will become the brand’s primary apparel and retail licensee, overseeing global design, merchandising and product development.
OVO and Vince will continue operating as separate brands with independent creative teams, keeping the identity of OVO intact while giving the company access to a much larger business infrastructure.
And that infrastructure is designed for expansion.
OVO currently operates 12 flagship stores, but the new partnership is looking well beyond that footprint. The plan calls for additional brick-and-mortar locations, a wholesale strategy that would bring OVO into third-party retailers and expansion into international markets and new consumer demographics.
For Drake, the move creates an opportunity to take something that began as a distinctly Toronto-rooted expression of music, fashion and culture and push it onto a much larger global stage without surrendering his creative role.
OVO now enters Authentic’s sprawling portfolio, which includes Reebok, Champion and Brooks Brothers, as well as celebrity-driven intellectual property tied to names including Shaquille O’Neal, David Beckham and Kevin Hart.
The real play here is scale. OVO already has the cultural credibility. Authentic and Vince bring the machinery to turn that credibility into a global lifestyle business.
Drake is still steering the creative vision. Now OVO has a much bigger engine behind it.