Centric Brands CEO Buys Majority Stake With Investors

TL;DR: Centric Brands completed its sale on November 9, 2026 to CEO Jason Rabin and an investor group of Axar Capital Management, M-Cor Capital, MSP Sports Capital and group president Jarrod Kahn, according to the company. Rabin takes a majority stake. Price and stake sizes were not disclosed in the sources reviewed.

Centric Brands announced the completion of the sale on November 9, 2026, in a company release distributed by PR Newswire. The buyer is the company's own chief executive, backed by outside investors. For an accredited investor who tracks private-market ownership changes, the useful questions are who sold, who bought, and what the public record leaves out.

What happened in the Centric Brands deal?

The company sold itself to its CEO and a new investor group. Per the release, the group is made up of Axar Capital Management, M-Cor Capital, LLC, MSP Sports Capital, and Jarrod Kahn, Centric's group president. Fashion United reports that Rabin assumes a majority stake and that current management stays in place to direct long-term operating strategy.

That structure is a management buyout. The people running the business become its controlling owners, with financial partners alongside them.

Item	What the sources say
Announced	November 9, 2026
Buyer	CEO Jason Rabin and an investor group
Investor group	Axar Capital Management, M-Cor Capital, MSP Sports Capital, Jarrod Kahn
Rabin's position	Majority stake
Price and stake percentages	Not disclosed in the sources reviewed
Management	Current team stays

Who owned Centric Brands before?

Blackstone, Ares Management and HPS Investment Partners owned it. Rabin told WWD that the company had been owned by those three firms since 2018, and WWD reports they will conclude their ownership stake as part of the transaction.

The history matters. WWD reports that Centric filed for Chapter 11 in 2020, hit by the pandemic, and emerged the same year with Blackstone as majority sponsor. The restructuring eliminated about $700 million in debt, per the same report. So the outgoing owners held the company through a bankruptcy and then through years of rebuilding.

Rabin framed the exit plainly to WWD: "Private equity is an investment, and after a point in time, it's time."

What is Centric Brands actually worth owning?

Start with the footprint. Centric employs 2,600 people across 26 offices, and the company says in its announcement that it has invested more than $25 million in global sourcing. The same announcement cites distribution centers totaling 2.7 million square feet in California and New Jersey, plus an internal AI platform, Centric IQ, now rolling out across its teams. The release adds that the portfolio spans more than 100 licensed and owned brands.

Those are the company's descriptions. A release is a statement of what the seller wants known. What the sources do not give is revenue, profit, debt load or the price paid, and without them nobody outside the deal can say whether the new owners bought well.

Why does this matter to an accredited investor?

This is a private company, so individuals cannot buy shares in it. The value of the story is what it shows about how private ownership turns over.

A sponsor-to-management handoff is one of several exit routes. Compare it with a sale to a strategic buyer, such as New York Life's majority stake in Invictus Capital Partners, or a middle-market firm buying an established consumer name, as in Arsenal Capital's purchase of Velcro. Each route tells you something different about who the sponsor thought would pay the most. Consumer-focused private equity has its own playbook and blind spots, covered in our look at L Catterton.

Here is an inference, and only that. When an owner that has held a company since a bankruptcy chooses a management buyout, it suggests the incumbent team was the buyer willing to close. Nothing in the sources confirms it.

What to watch next

Three things would turn this from an announcement into something measurable. First, whether the price or financing terms surface through a filing or a lender announcement. Second, how Axar, M-Cor and MSP describe their roles, since the sources give each only a name. Third, the acquisitions Rabin told WWD to expect, which he sized at anywhere from $0 to $100 million in revenue each.

Common mistakes when reading a deal like this

The first is treating "majority stake" as a valuation. It says who controls the company, not what it cost. The second is guessing the investor group's split from the headline: four names appear in the release, and none has a stated share. The third is reading a company release as independent confirmation. It is the origin of the facts, a reliable record of what the company announced and nothing more.

FAQ

Who is the CEO of Centric Brands?

Jason Rabin. WWD reports he has been CEO and a board member since the company's founding in October 2018, and he now holds a majority stake after the November 9, 2026 sale.

What do Centric Brands own?

Per the company, a portfolio of more than 100 licensed and owned brands, including Calvin Klein, Coach, Dockers, Faherty, Joe's Jeans, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, UGG and Under Armour, plus entertainment brands such as Disney and Marvel.

What is Centric Brands' annual revenue?

The sources reviewed do not state it. The release and press coverage give headcount, office count and investment figures, but no revenue or profit number, so any figure you see elsewhere should be checked against its origin.

Is Centric Brands a good company?

The sources cannot answer that. They show scale and a new ownership structure, but no financials or deal terms. Judging quality needs revenue, margins and debt, none of which were disclosed here.

What to do today

If you track private-market exits, save the November 9 release and set an alert for any lender, filing or investor-group statement that gives the price, so you can compare this buyout with the exit routes above.

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