Costa Mesa-based Paul Frank Industries Inc. is up for sale, according to a report.
The company, which designs clothes and other products and licenses them to other companies, has hired an investment bank to explore a sale, according to a report in the New York Post.
New York-based Guggenheim Partners LLC has been hired to shop the company, the report said. It could sell for as much as $50 million.
Paul Frank is looking to sell itself to gain cash and resources for growth, one unnamed source told the Post.
The company and Guggenheim were unavailable for comment on the story.
Paul Frank, known for its Julius the Monkey and other cartoon characters, now is owned by cofounder and designer Mossimo Giannulli, who came on board in 2007.
Giannulli has been a driving force, moving it away from a conventional apparel company model to one based on outsourcing designs to others.
The move has some parallels to Giannulli’s own deal struck in 2000 with Target Corp., which helped get his Santa Monica-based Mossimo Inc., now part of New York’s Iconix Brand Group Inc., out of hard times.
Paul Frank’s licensing focus came a few years after a 2005 falling out with cofounder and namesake Paul Frank Sunich.
Sunich, who came up with Julius and others designs, now is working on a new line of characters.
He sold his stake in Paul Frank in 2007, clearing the way for Giannulli.
Paul Frank generates about $8 million a year in royalties from licensees, according to the Post. Licensees sell more than $160 million worth of Paul Frank stuff annually, the story said.
The company also runs about 30 Paul Frank boutiques.
