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HanesBrands has agreed to pay $550 million to acquire European intimate apparel maker DBApparel, a deal that will give Hanes a much stronger position in Europe and also full ownership of the iconic Wonderbra brand.
HanesBrands is buying DBApparel from private-equity firm Sun Capital Partners, and the deal unites two formerly separated sister companies that were once controlled by Sara Lee (which has since been renamed Hillshire Brands). Sara Lee in 2006 sold off DBA to Sun Capital, while Hanes was spun of into a separate publicly traded company.
The deal is unusual in that both companies have had control of Wonderbra and Playtex. As a result of the sale of the European apparel business by Sara Lee, HanesBrands wasn’t permitted to sell some of its intimate apparel to European Union and several other European countries, as well as South Africa.
