Marubeni Consumer Platform US acquires UK-based Gola owner Jacobson

Marubeni Consumer Platform US (MCPU) is the new owner of UK-based Jacobson Group and its portfolio of lifestyle footwear brands that includes Gola, Lotus, Ravel, and Frank Wright.

It also operates licensed brands Dunlop and Lonsdale and they’re part of the deal — the price of which hasn’t been shared — too. 

Marubeni is a major US-based dealmaker and MCPU is a sizeable consumer platform in the US. Its next generation of core businesses are “defined by attractive growth domains, high value creation, and scalable operating models” and UK-based Jacobson Group clearly fits the bill.

So what happens now? Jacobson Group will be integrated into MCPU’s lifestyle platform, with Marubeni’s RGB Brands “serving as the platform engine”.

The new owner also said that “to ensure continuity, a smooth transition, and the preservation of the deep industry knowledge and entrepreneurial culture that has shaped the business, Jacobson Group will continue to be led by its existing leadership team — Tony Evans, Gary Shutt, Jonathan Jacobson, and Donna Hill”.

Harvey Jacobson, executive chairman of the firm he co-founded in 1982, added: “I am hugely proud of everything Jacobson Group has achieved… and I would like to thank all our employees for the commitment and dedication they have shown. As we look to the future, Marubeni and RGB Brands offer the ideal platform, vision, and long-term commitment to take Jacobson’s brands into their next phase of growth. I wish everyone at Jacobson, RGB and Marubeni every success as they embark on this exciting new chapter together.”

Meanwhile MCPU highlighted how Jacobson has evolved from that family-founded British footwear business “into a globally recognised, multi-brand enterprise. Gola’s more than 120-year heritage and timeless design aesthetic in lifestyle and casual footwear anchors the portfolio, and strengthens the platform’s position in attractive, high-potential categories. At the same time, its established brands and select licensing partnerships will continue to fuel growth across the UK, US, and other international markets – delivering further category diversification alongside expansion into new territories”.

As mentioned, RGB will be key to deal with Marubeni saying its MCPU lifestyle platform “is anchored by RGB”, under the leadership of president and CEO Bob Mullaney. RGB has “more than 75 years of category expertise, with a consumer-focused, data-driven, digital-centric, and earth-first philosophy. It is the operational engine powering a portfolio of consumer brands, including Dearfoams, Baggallini, and Columbus Product Group, with the scale to reach millions across leading retailers”. 

In November, RGB also announced an agreement in principle to acquire the global slipper license for Clarks and the US slipper license for Timberland from Green Market Services. 

We’re told that “integrating Jacobson into this platform will unlock meaningful value through shared scale, enhanced go-to-market capabilities, and the opportunity to elevate heritage brands with significant untapped potential”.

Shana Randhava, president of MCPU added that the latest deal “advances the platform architecture we’ve been building, and comes at a particularly exciting time, fuelled by Gola’s rapidly expanding market resonance. This marks a defining step in establishing the MCPU lifestyle platform as a scaleable, multi-brand ecosystem. With RGB anchoring operational excellence, this move reinforces Marubeni’s strategy, advanced through its Next Generation Corporate Development Division, to build category-led consumer platforms powered by shared engines, capable of shaping the company’s growth trajectory over the coming decade.”

And Mullaney called the latest deal “a transformative moment for RGB. Gola brings cultural relevance and global ambition, and the broader Jacobson portfolio extends the platform’s reach across lifestyle and heritage categories. Our values are closely aligned, and we are committed to investing in what already makes these brands distinctive. By pairing Jacobson’s strengths with RGB’s scale, infrastructure, and operational excellence, we are well-positioned to accelerate growth across key international markets.”