In inescapable and embarrassing news, Steve Madden Ltd. has taken over a $48.8 million loan to Betsey Johnson‘s company, according to papers filed with the SEC late yesterday. Johnson, whose Fashion Week show is in ten days, has until August 20, 2012 to repay Madden – otherwise he takes it all. I mean everything.
Madden already holds a license for handbags, small leather goods, belts and umbrellas under the Betsey Johnson and Betseyville trademarks. The collateral for the loan includes the company’s intellectual property, so Madden could be in line for the labels it holds as licensee. Also included among the items securing the loan are “the borrower’s personal property, accounts, deposit accounts and cash, equipment, fixtures, general intangibles, goods [and] inventory.” Ouch.