The Marciano Brothers Took Guess Private, Keeping 49% of the IP

Guess spent 30 years as a public company. In January 2026 two of the brothers who founded it, with their chief executive, took it back. Public shareholders were paid $16.75 a share in cash; Authentic Brands Group took 51% of the brand’s intellectual property; the founding family and the chief executive kept the other 49% of the name; and management kept all of the business that runs the stores.

At a glance

Four brothers, one buyout already

Guess began in 1981 as a style catalog run by four Moroccan-born brothers, Georges, Maurice, Armand and Paul Marciano, per Wikipedia. This is not the family’s first buyout. In September 1993 Georges sold his stake to his brothers for $214.2 million, which they borrowed $210 million to pay. The company listed in July 1996. In fiscal 2025 it had $2.99 billion in revenue and $60.4 million of net income.

The take-private

Guess disclosed a non-binding proposal from a third party in March 2025. An independent special committee then negotiated the deal Guess announced on August 20, 2025: shareholders other than the “rolling stockholders” would get $16.75 a share in cash, a premium of about 73% to the unaffected March 14 price, for a deal Guess valued at about $1.4 billion including debt. Paul Marciano and Alberini recused themselves from the board vote, and closing needed a majority of the unaffiliated shareholders as well.

The structure is the point. Authentic, which says its brands generate about $32 billion of retail sales a year, bought 51% of substantially all of Guess’s intellectual property. The rolling stockholders, Maurice, Paul and Nicolai Marciano and Alberini, kept the other 49% through rollover equity. And management kept 100% of the operating company, the business with 1,074 directly operated stores at the time of the announcement.

The deal closed on January 23, 2026. “Joining forces with Authentic – the world’s second largest licensor” was how Paul Marciano described it at announcement.

What founders can take from it

• You can sell the name and keep the business. Authentic bought a majority of the intellectual property, not the stores, which stayed with management.
• Rollover equity is how founders stay owners. The cash price went to shareholders other than the rolling stockholders; the Marcianos and Alberini rolled their equity into the 49% instead.
• Founders buying out a public company need independent sign-off. A special committee, recusals and a majority-of-the-minority vote were what made the price defensible.

Related founders

• LVMH Sold Marc Jacobs. The Designer Stays Creative Director.: the same split of IP and operating business, with a licensing company as partner.
• Tory Burch Is Buying Out General Atlantic for $346 Million: another founder-led fashion company buying out outside owners.
• Founder Exits of 2026: 23 Deals and What Founders Kept: the year’s founder ownership deals in one table.

Sourcing: the $16.75 price, 73% premium, ~$1.4 billion value, structure, special committee, recusals, vote conditions, store count, Authentic’s $32 billion figure and the Paul Marciano quote are per Guess’s August 20, 2025 announcement (SEC Form 8-K exhibit 99.1). Completion on January 23, 2026 and post-closing ownership are per Guess’s completion announcement (SEC exhibit 99.1 of that date). Both were opened directly on sec.gov. The 1981 founding, the 1993 buyout of Georges Marciano, the 1996 IPO and fiscal 2025 financials are per Wikipedia’s Guess article, citing the International Directory of Company Histories, the Los Angeles Times and Guess’s FY2025 annual report. No portrait is used.