Manhattan Beachwear President on recent acquisition, swim sales

Manhattan Beachwear Inc. has made news in the swimwear world this year.

Cleveland private equity firm Linsalata Capital Partners (LinCap) acquired a majority stake in the company in January. And this month, Manhattan Beachwear bought another large swimwear company, Apparel Ventures, Inc.

I followed up with Manhattan Beachwear President Brenda West to ask her about the deals, if she expects more consolidation in the industry, and how swim sales went this year.

Why acquire Apparel Ventures?

Brenda West: We really admired the businesses that the Apparel Ventures group built over the years, and knew it would be a great fit with our existing brands and licenses.

Together, Manhattan Beachwear, Inc., addresses almost every category of women’s swimwear as well as a very strong cover-up business. We now have 15 licensed brands, seven proprietary brands and a strong private label business. It is a great product offering for our customer base.

Earlier this year, LinCap bought a majority stake in Manhattan Beachwear. Did the new ownership help make this acquisition happen?

Yes, they did.

How many employees will the new combined company have?

Over 400.

Is Manhattan Beachwear looking to add more brands to its portfolio?

Absolutely, we will always explore more opportunities with the right players. There are some really unique and interesting opportunities out there right now that we are considering.

As a swim industry veteran, can you tell us if the swim industry is seeing more consolidation these days?

I think so. Swimwear is one of the few businesses in apparel that has not seen much consolidation.

Overall, how did sell through and reorders go for your company during the busy spring and summer season?

Spring/Summer 2010 was truly amazing with the record heat back East. We were shipping goods almost two months longer than we normally do. Many retailers were buying anything we had in stock to fill their stores.

It provided great margins for our retailers and set a really positive vibe for 2011.