Tommy Hilfiger sold to owner of Calvin Klein

Tommy Hilfiger's private equity owner Apax today sold the US clothes brand to Phillips-Van Heusen, the American fashion group that owns Calvin Klein, for 2.2  billion (£2  billion).

PVH chairman Emanuel Chirico said the deal makes it one of the world's biggest clothes companies with revenues of around $4.6 billion (£3.1 billion). Apax bought Hilfiger for $1.6 billion in September 2005.

Apax said the business was "back to its old strengths" after an overhaul during the past four years.

The firm's supplier base has been consolidated to save costs, alongside a number of changes made to get Tommy Hilfiger back on track following the boom in its popularity in the Nineties.

Apax partner Christian Stahl, who will join the Phillips-Van Heusen board, said: "In 2006, the business was suffering in the US and had lost its clear positioning - we saw the strength of the international business and together with the management team developed a clear strategy for repositioning and restructuring the US business."