Marquee Brands Appoints Neil Fiske As Company's Chief Executive Officer

NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Marquee Brands LLC, a leading global brand owner, marketer and media company, announced today the appointment of Neil Fiske as the first chief executive officer of Marquee Brands LLC. Fiske has 20 years of brand building experience across various consumer segments. Most recently, he was the chief executive officer of the GAP brand. 

"Neil brings world-class multi-brand operational experience to Marquee Brands and has a track record of successfully building and repositioning brands. We are very excited to have him lead the team as the company's first chief executive officer. Neil has the leadership track record and breadth of business experience we believe are critical to lead Marquee," said Sam Porat, Managing Director, Neuberger Berman.

Founded in 2014, Marquee Brands has become an industry leader in brand acquisitions and brand building and today manages a portfolio with $3 billion of retail sales across 11 brands and four consumer segments. This includes the recent acquisition of the iconic brand Sur La Table which further builds upon the Home and Culinary portfolio within Marquee Brands.

"As we continue to build and evolve the Marquee Brands business model, it was the right time for us to find a CEO with the experience and strategic foresight to take advantage of the unprecedented market opportunities ahead of us," said Zachary Sigel, Managing Director, Neuberger Berman. "Neil shares our vision for Marquee and will position us well to fully capitalize on the current dislocation across the retail and consumer industry. We welcome him to the Marquee Brands team, and we are excited about the future."

Over the past six years, Marquee has successfully built a portfolio of category leading brands, steeped in heritage and history with a strong consumer identity and diversified channels of distribution.  Marquee has created a best-in-class platform including its Marquee Direct e-commerce business to drive significant organic growth post acquisition. Marquee's focus on building brands by investing in them to ultimately deliver unique offerings to retailers and customers has helped their portfolio standout in a rapidly changing retail environment.

"Marquee Brands has one of the best portfolios in the industry with premium brands that are truly meaningful to the consumer, have clear identities and competitive positionings, and a runway of growth ahead of them." said Fiske. "I am fortunate to join a company that has a proven formula for success, a strong team adapting quickly to this ever-changing environment, and investing at a time when many are in retreat.  With the full backing of Neuberger Berman, I look forward to working closely with Michael DeVirgilio, Cory Baker and the executive team to grow this business and capitalize on the rich set of opportunities so clearly in front of us."

Fiske's career as a CEO has focused on building brands, transforming businesses, and adapting to a seamlessly omni channel consumer environment.  Prior to the Gap, Fisk served as chief executive officer at Billabong International, where he restored the flagship Billabong brand to a position of market leadership and multi-year share growth. He also spent five years as president and chief executive officer at Eddie Bauer, repositioning the company to focus on its heritage as America's original outdoor outfitter. Fiske was also chief executive officer at Bath and Body Works, where he led a complete brand transformation, reversing a multi-year trend of negative comp store sales. Fiske began his career at Boston Consulting Group, focused on consumer goods and retail. He graduated from Harvard Business School with a Masters of Business Administration and received a B.A. in Political Economy from Williams College.  He also has private equity experience as a retail industry partner for Onex. He has been named WWD's "Marketer of the Year" and "Retailer of the Year", as well as co-authoring the award-winning brand building book "Trading Up:  The New American Luxury."

About Marquee Brands
Marquee Brands is a leading global brand owner, marketer and media company. Owned by investor funds managed by Neuberger Berman, one of the world's leading employee-owned investment managers, Marquee Brands targets high quality brands with strong consumer awareness and long-term growth potential. Marquee Brands seeks to identify brands in various consumer product segments with the goal of expanding their reach across retail channel, geography and product category while preserving the brand heritage and enhancing the ultimate consumer experience. The portfolio includes Martha Stewart, BCBG, Ben Sherman, Dakine, Sur La Table Body Glove, Emeril Lagasse, Motherhood Maternity, A Pea in a Pod, and Bruno Magli. Through its global team of professionals and partners, Marquee Brands monitors trends and markets in order to grow and manage brands in partnership with retailers, licensees and manufacturers through engaging, impactful strategic planning, marketing, and ecommerce. www.marqueebrands.com

About Neuberger Berman 
Neuberger Berman, founded in 1939, is a private, independent, employee-owned investment manager. The firm manages a range of strategies—including equity, fixed income, quantitative and multi-asset class, private equity, real estate and hedge funds—on behalf of institutions, advisors and individual investors globally. With offices in 24 countries, Neuberger Berman's diverse team has 2,300 professionals. For six consecutive years, the company has been named first or second in Pensions & Investments Best Places to Work in Money Management survey (among those with 1,000 employees or more). The firm was awarded an A+ in every category in the latest 2019 PRI report for our approach to ESG integration across asset classes. The firm manages $357 billion in client assets as of June 30, 2020. For more information, please visit our website at www.nb.com.

SOURCE Marquee Brands