To listen to the podcast on Retail Rx, click here.
As long as there have been brands and retailers, there’s been the need to evaluate their worth— whether for a sale, asset-backed loan, licensing deal, brand spinoff, or in the worst-case scenario, liquidation. The landscape for valuations and loans has changed considerably over the decades, and continues to do so today.
In this episode of WWD Voices for Retail Rx, Lauren Parker, director of Fairchild Studio, chats with Ben Nortman, co-chief commercial officer at Hilco Global, who has seen the landscape evolve considerably in his 28 years at the company.
Ben Nortman
“There has been tremendous change and a lot of creativity and ingenuity from the capital markets to help retailers access more capital, and that has really changed over time,” said Nortman. “The two main assets on the balance sheet are really the inventory and the brand. And in some cases, those brands have real value, either in place or segregated out in a brand licensing strategy.”
To that end, added Nortman, there’s been an onset of companies that will buy brands out of bad retailers in a liquidation scenario and pay real money for those brands, and people that are willing to lend against that value.
To listen to the podcast on Retail Rx, click here.
