The owner of British sportswear and fashion brand Gola has been acquired by the US arm of Japanese conglomerate Marubeni.
Jacobson Group carries a raft of lifestyle footwear brands including Lotus, Ravel and Frank Knight along with licensed brands Dunlop and Lonsdale.
Founded in 2023, Marubeni Consumer Platform US (MCPU) is a division of the Tokyo-based Marubeni Corporation that operates across a range of sectors, including lifestyle, food and agriculture, chemicals, energy, metals and mineral resources, power and infrastructure.
Jacobson will be integrated into MCPU with RGB Brands serving as the platform engine. RGB acquired the global slipper license for Clarks and the US slipper license for Timberland in November.
Marubeni said to ensure a smooth transition and “preservation of deep industry knowledge”, Jacobson will be led by its existing leadership team and chief executive Tony Evans.
Commenting on the acquisition, Evans said: “We have never been in a stronger position, and joining this platform will allow us to build on that momentum while remaining true to the values that make Jacobson Group so special.
“This acquisition represents a major milestone for the business, and I look forward to working closely with the RGB and Marubeni teams to drive growth across the globe.”
Marubeni Consumer Platform US president Shana Randhava said: “The acquisition of Jacobson Group advances the platform architecture we’ve been building, and comes at a particularly exciting time, fueled by Gola’s rapidly expanding market resonance.
“This marks a defining step in establishing the MCPU lifestyle platform as a scalable, multi-brand ecosystem.”
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