Background: Culture Kings is a streetwear fashion brand that was founded back in 2008 in Brisvegas. Ya know, the company that used Mike Tyson's image without his consent? And Princess Polly is a women's fashion brand that was founded back in 2005 on the GC. 

What happened: These two companies are owned by private equity firm Summit Partners, under a company called a.k.a Brands.

What else: Summit Partners is planning to list a.k.a Brands on the New York Stock Exchange. And, if they're successful, the IPO will value the company at a whopping US$2.3 billion...which means a massive payday for the Aussie founders and the private equity firm, who share ownership of a.k.a Brands.

So what's the key learning?

💡Private equity (or PE) is a blanket term that's used to describe investments made into (often underperforming) companies. 

💡Private Equity is often associated with buyouts of public companies - like Virgin Australia or Dick Smith (#RIP). But it can also be investments in private companies, like Culture Kings. 

It works like this: 

• PE purchase underperforming company with growth potential
• PE rebrand, repackage or rebuild the company
• PE invest capital to speed up the company's growth and make it more successful ~theoretically~
• PE sell the company to another company or IPO the company 

💡 In the last few years, PE firms have been taking their private companies public thanks to a big boom in IPOs. In fact, PE firms lodged US$74.5 billion worth of IPOs in 2020 alone.