Toronto-founded lifestyle brand October’s Very Own (OVO) is entering a new phase of global expansion after Authentic Brands Group acquired majority control of its intellectual property and Vince Holding Corp. took over its retail and operating business.
Authentic now holds a 51% controlling interest in OVO’s intellectual property, while Drake retains a 44% stake and will continue shaping the brand’s creative direction. Vince Holding Corp. owns the remaining 5% after investing US$6 million.
Vince has separately acquired OVO’s operating business, giving it responsibility for the brand’s stores, e-commerce, merchandising, product development and wholesale operations. OVO’s existing team will remain in place, with the business continuing to operate from its Toronto headquarters.
The transaction establishes a new division of responsibilities as the partners look to grow OVO internationally. Authentic brings its global licensing and brand-development network, Drake and the existing OVO team remain closely involved creatively, and Vince will run the retail and apparel business.
OVO has grown from its Toronto roots into an international lifestyle business with 12 flagship stores and worldwide e-commerce. The new ownership and operating structure gives the company access to significantly greater resources for its next stage of expansion.
Drake Retains Significant Ownership in OVO
The transaction represents a major change in OVO’s ownership while keeping Drake closely tied to the company financially and creatively.
“We’re just a couple kids from Toronto who started something we believed in. Here we are 20 years later, same kids with bigger dreams. Authentic and VNCE are the perfect partners to help us continue to grow,” Drake said in announcing the transaction.
OVO was founded by Aubrey “Drake” Graham, Oliver El-Khatib and Noah “40” Shebib and is currently led by CEO Drex Jancar. The company has developed a recognizable identity around its owl logo and black-and-gold aesthetic while expanding into premium apparel, accessories, retail stores, e-commerce and high-profile collaborations.
Drake’s 44% interest leaves him with a substantial economic stake even as Authentic assumes majority control of the intellectual property. He will also continue to play a role in OVO’s creative direction as the business expands.
Authentic Sees Global Growth Potential
Authentic Brands Group has built one of the world’s largest portfolios of consumer and cultural intellectual property. Its business model is centred on owning brands and working with specialized partners to handle areas such as retail, manufacturing, distribution and licensing.
The company says its portfolio generates more than US$38 billion in annual systemwide retail sales through more than 1,700 licensees and strategic partners across 150 countries. Its holdings include Reebok, Champion, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Nautica, Nine West, Ted Baker, Barneys New York, Dockers and Vince, alongside entertainment and celebrity properties including Elvis Presley, Muhammad Ali, Marilyn Monroe, Shaquille O’Neal and David Beckham.
“OVO has earned a place among the world’s most influential lifestyle brands because it has always stood for something authentic and unmistakable,” said Jamie Salter, Founder and Executive Chairman of Authentic.
Salter said Drake and his team had built a brand with considerable cultural influence. Authentic plans to pursue new markets and businesses while maintaining the characteristics that have defined OVO.
Salter also brings a Canadian connection to the transaction. He was born in Toronto before going on to build New York-headquartered Authentic into a global brand-management company. OVO, meanwhile, emerged from Toronto’s music and creative scene before developing an international following.
The shared Toronto roots add another dimension to a transaction involving one of the city’s most recognizable homegrown lifestyle brands.
Vince Takes Over OVO’s Retail Business
Vince Holding Corp.’s acquisition of OVO’s operating business is another major part of the transaction. The company will oversee OVO’s design, product development, merchandising and retail stores and will become the brand’s core apparel licensee. The operating business includes OVO’s 12-store international network, e-commerce operations, wholesale relationships and the organization supporting those activities.
OVO’s existing team will remain in Toronto, while OVO and Vince will maintain separate creative identities.
“Few brands combine influence, elevated style and approachability the way OVO does,” said Brendan Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer of Vince Holding Corp.
Hoffman said OVO’s creative and design identity would remain its own, with Vince supporting that vision as it works to bring the brand to a wider international audience.
OVO is the first additional operating brand for Vince Holding Corp. as the company begins pursuing a multi-brand strategy. Vince Holding has historically centred its operations on its namesake premium apparel business, and the acquisition allows its retail, e-commerce and wholesale infrastructure to support a second brand.
The arrangement could also serve as a model for Vince Holding to work with additional brands in the future.
Authentic and Vince Deepen an Existing Partnership
Authentic and Vince already have a significant corporate relationship. Authentic acquired a 75% interest in the Vince intellectual property in 2023, with Vince Holding Corp. retaining the remaining 25%. Vince Holding continued operating the Vince retail, wholesale and e-commerce business under a long-term arrangement.
The OVO deal expands that relationship. Authentic becomes majority owner of another fashion and lifestyle property, while Vince Holding assumes responsibility for running the underlying retail and apparel operation.
OVO will be the first indication of how Vince Holding’s multi-brand strategy works in practice, allowing infrastructure previously centred on its namesake business to support a broader operating base.
Vince expects the transaction to be approximately earnings neutral in fiscal 2026 after transaction-related costs and accretive to earnings per share in fiscal 2027.
U.S. Stores and Wholesale Among Growth Opportunities
Vince has identified several areas for OVO expansion, including additional stores in the United States, further e-commerce growth and broader wholesale distribution through relationships with major national department stores.
Wholesale could mark a meaningful shift in OVO’s distribution strategy. Much of the brand’s retail presence has been built through its own stores and digital channels, alongside collaborations and controlled product releases. Vince’s department-store relationships could put OVO products in front of a much wider customer base.
Authentic’s licensing network also opens the door to additional product categories and geographic markets.
Global awareness is already one of OVO’s strengths, helped considerably by its association with Drake. The new corporate structure adds the retail, distribution and licensing capabilities needed to build a larger business around that recognition.
From Dundas Street to an International Retail Network
OVO’s physical retail story began in Toronto, where its first permanent store opened at 899 Dundas Street West in December 2014 following an earlier pop-up at the location. The boutique established a physical home for the brand as OVO’s recognition was beginning to spread well beyond the city.
International expansion followed with Los Angeles in 2015, New York in 2016 and London in 2017.
The Canadian network was growing as well. OVO opened at Toronto’s Yorkdale Shopping Centre in 2017, its first location in a major shopping centre and an important step in the development of its physical retail business.
Additional Canadian stores followed at Square One in Mississauga and on Robson Street in Vancouver. OVO expanded into CF Toronto Eaton Centre in 2019 with a roughly 2,890-square-foot store, followed by further growth into markets including Ottawa and Calgary.
OVO now operates 12 flagship stores and has a worldwide e-commerce presence. Its retail evolution has taken the business well beyond the original Dundas Street boutique while Toronto has remained central to the brand.
OVO Deal Could Support Vince Expansion in Canada
Toronto will remain OVO’s operating headquarters following the transaction. Vince plans to retain the existing organization, giving the company an established Canadian operation as it takes over the business.
That presence could have implications for the Vince brand as well. The company has identified OVO’s Canadian infrastructure as a potential base for opening Vince stores and expanding its e-commerce and wholesale businesses in the country.
Vince brings relationships and operating capabilities that can support OVO’s U.S. and international growth, while the OVO organization gives Vince an established base in Canada. The Canadian opportunity also fits with Vince Holding’s broader plan to build a business capable of operating multiple brands.
Maintaining OVO’s Identity as the Business Expands
One of the key considerations will be how OVO develops under a much larger commercial organization. Its growth has been closely tied to Drake, controlled distribution, collaborations and a visual and cultural identity rooted in Toronto. Authentic and Vince now plan to expand the business across additional markets and distribution channels while keeping OVO’s creative organization distinct.
Both companies have addressed that issue directly. Authentic has said it wants to expand OVO without losing the characteristics that define the brand, while Vince has emphasized that OVO will retain its own creative and design identity.
The transaction puts considerably more retail and licensing infrastructure behind a business that began as a Toronto creative project roughly two decades ago. Drake remains a major shareholder and creative participant, OVO stays headquartered in Toronto, and the brand now has two large corporate partners focused on expanding its commercial reach.
The next phase will show how that translates into stores, wholesale distribution, new categories and international markets for a Canadian brand whose owl logo has become recognizable around the world.
