TSL Express Daily News

Liberated Brands, the former operator of licences for Quiksilver, Volcom and Billabong, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a Delaware court. According to the company’s filing, it intends to wind down its North American operations.

Set up to manage Authentic Brands Group’s collection of action sports lifestyle brands, Liberated was founded by ex-Volcom executives in 2019. It underwent a massive expansion after the COVID-19 retail boom, going from operating 67 stores to 140 in short order. The expansion also saw the company nearly triple its staff and take over the retail and e-commerce operations for Billabong, Quiksilver, RVCA and more. However, it struggled since this expansion, and in December 2024, Authentic decided to pull all the licences from Liberated globally, believing it did not have the resources to adequately invest in them.

According to Liberated’s Chapter 11 filing, its estimated assets and liabilities ranged from $100m to $500m. The company has $3.3m in cash on hand and $226m in debt. The list of Liberated’s largest unsecured creditors included a range of overseas clothing manufacturers. Liberated owes its single biggest unsecured creditor, Ningbo Jehson Textiles in China, $3.2m. 

Additional large unsecured creditors include other companies that license former Boardriders brands, including the 05 Group, which Liberated owes about $1m, and Centric Brands, which has the licence to make children’s apparel for several former Boardriders brands. Liberated owes Centric approximately $750,000.

Liberated has received interim approval to access $25m of its $35m debtor-in-possession financing from its secured lender JPMorgan Chase Bank NA. The move is seen as interim measure to get the company to its next hearing on 4 March 2025.

“The Liberated team has worked tirelessly over the last year to propel these iconic brands forward, but a volatile global economy, consumer spending changes amid a rising cost of living, and inflationary pressures have all taken a heavy toll,” said Liberated Brands in a statement. “Despite this difficult change, we are encouraged that many of our talented associates have found new opportunities with other license holders that will carry these great brands into the future.”

The brands which Liberated licensed from Authentic will not be impacted by the Chapter 11 filing. According to a statement, the brands have already transitioned to new, well-capitalised partners. The company currently has more than 100 locations in the US, all of which will close once a liquidation sale process has been completed. The fate of the company’s nine stores in Hawaii has not yet been determined. The company said it is looking for a buyer of its Australian, European, Japanese and Canadian business units, which are also unaffected by the filing.