Is Lee owned by private equity?
PE-backed
Yes. Bought from Kontoor Brands in 2026 by Authentic Brands Group, a brand-licensing company backed by private-equity investors including General Atlantic and Leonard Green.
Details
- Owner
- Authentic Brands Group
- Backers
- General Atlantic; CVC Capital Partners; HPS Investment Partners; Leonard Green & Partners; BlackRock Long Term Private Capital
- Since
- 2026
- Website
- lee.com
- Confidence
- High
Sources
- “Kontoor Brands Completes the Sale of the Lee Business to Authentic Brands Group” kontoorbrands.com, 2026-11-03
- “Lee jeans sold to brand management firm for up to $1B” finance.yahoo.com, 2026-05
- “Authentic Brands Group Announces $500M Primary Follow-on Investment From General Atlantic” businesswire.com, 2023-06-29
Other brands owned by Authentic Brands Group: Aéropostale, Billabong, Brooks Brothers, Champion, Dockers, Eddie Bauer, Guess, Juicy Couture, Lucky Brand, Nautica, Quiksilver, Reebok, Roxy, Sperry, Spyder, Ted Baker, Volcom.
Checked 2026-11-04. A label describes who owns the brand, not the quality of its products. How we label · Report a correction
See this on lee.com itself: click the PE or Not? extension icon on any page of the site. More clothing, shoe and accessory brands