Hugh Jackman’s $25MILLION payday: Wolverine star is set to pocket huge sum as iconic Aussie bootmaker RM Williams is put up for sale for $500million
- Hugh Jackman owns five per cent of RM and recently became its ambassador
- He is expected to make $25million if the brand sells for up to $500million
- RM has been shopped around and is expected to go on auction later this year
Hugh Jackman is expected to pocket an estimated $25million if Australian boot and clothing firm R.M. Williams is sold for its expected value of $500million.
The X-Men star owns 5 per cent of the iconic Australian firm and became its brand ambassador in March this year.
The brand is majority-owned by Singapore-based L Catterton Asia, who have been shopping around the brand through investment bank Goldman Sachs.
A sale via auction was expected later this year with estimates of its value put as high as $500 million.
Hugh Jackman is expected to make $25million if Australian bootmaker RM Williams sells for up to $500million
Jackman, 50, became involved with the company as an ambassador after starring in the movie Australia alongside Nicole Kidman in 2007.
Then in 2015 he bought his stake in the firm, setting him up for a lucrative return upon its approaching sale.
‘R.M.’s have been a part of my life across the entire journey, from my early stage days to where I am today,’ Hugh Jackman previously told The Land.
‘It’s an honour to be a part of the R.M.Williams family and to wear the brand’s iconic craftsman boot for the Undeniable Character campaign.’
R.M. Williams was founded in Adelaide in 1932 by the famed bushman of the same name.
The company’s iconic boots are a popular item both locally and overseas, and the brand has stores in New York, London, New Zealand and in Scandanavia.
The brand’s sales increased to from $126million in 2017 to $142million in the most recent financial year.
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Hugh Jackman owns 5 per cent of RM Williams and became its brand ambassador in March this year
L Catterton Asia – the private equity owners of R.M. Williams – bought a 49.9 per cent stake in the company from former News Corp boss Ken Cowley in six years ago, before it took control of the company together with superannuation fund IFM Investors in 2014.
L Catterton Asia is backed by LVMH Moet Hennessy, a French luxury goods business that owns Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Givenchy and Moet Henessy champagne.