Sep 6, 2026
Roots is leaving the stock market. Toronto-based Roots Corporation has agreed to go private in a deal led by US brand management firm Marquee Brands, working alongside a new Canadian operating company run by retail veterans Joe Mimran and Frank Rocchetti.
Under the deal, shareholders will be cashed out, day-to-day control will shift to Mimran’s team, and the stock will be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange. For a brand that’s spent five decades wrapping itself in the maple leaf, and that’s been publicly traded since 2017, the TSX exit raises two very different questions for Canadians: What does delisting actually mean for your shares, and what will it mean when you step inside the store?
What delisting means for the company
As part of the transaction, Marquee Brands, through its operating partner JM&A Design and Development Inc., will acquire all outstanding Roots shares for $4.10 each in cash. That’s a 36% premium over where the stock was trading before Roots announced in March that it was exploring a sale. The Roots board has unanimously recommended shareholders vote in favour.
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Going private means Roots will no longer trade publicly on an exchange. However, the deal still needs to clear a few hurdles before the delisting is finalized: a special shareholder meeting expected in October, approval from at least two-thirds of votes cast plus a separate majority excluding parties too close to the transaction, Competition Act clearance and sign-off from the Ontario Court of Justice.
If all of that goes through, Roots expects to close the deal and officially delist from the TSX in the fourth quarter of 2026.
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Who is taking Roots private
The deal is structured as a partnership. Marquee Brands, a New York-based brand management company, is providing the capital and will focus on global brand stewardship and expansion into new markets and product categories. JM&A, led by Canadian retail veteran Joe Mimran (the entrepreneur behind Joe Fresh, Club Monaco and Alfred Sung) and Frank Rocchetti, will run the actual business: Roots’ stores, e-commerce, design, development and manufacturing across Canada and the US.
Mimran has pushed back on framing this as a US takeover. “It is not simply a U.S. acquisition. This is a U.S.-Canadian acquisition,” he said, noting his company is a co-owner, not just a hired operator. It also ends Searchlight Capital Partners’ decade as Roots’ controlling shareholder; the US private equity firm bought its majority stake back in 2015.
What delisting means if you hold Roots shares
If you own Roots stock, the mechanics are straightforward: Assuming shareholders and regulators approve the deal, you’ll receive $4.10 in cash for every share you hold, and the stock will stop trading and be delisted from the TSX.
Cashing out triggers a taxable event outside a registered account like a TFSA or RRSP, where any capital gain would be sheltered; in a non-registered account, it’s worth talking to an accountant or advisor about the capital gains implications before the deal closes. Once the company goes private, public investors will no longer be able to buy or sell shares on an open exchange.
What delisting means if you just shop there
For customers, the impact of going private won't be felt immediately: probably not much, at least at first, will change. Moving off the stock market frees management from quarterly public earnings pressures, but design, sourcing and merchandising will continue to run out of Toronto, and the company’s leather factory stays in Ontario.
In an interview with the Financial Post following the announcement, Roots CEO Meghan Roach said the plan is to expand the company's existing domestic manufacturing rather than shrink it, and to keep headquarters in Canada. No changes to pricing, loyalty programs or store operations have been announced as part of the transition.
The company frames the new ownership structure as reinforcing its Canadian identity rather than diluting it. “If anything, we’re more Canadian now than people perceived us to be before,” Roach told the Financial Post, pointing to the involvement of Canadian retail veterans Joe Mimran and Frank Rocchetti in running daily operations.
Whether that framing holds up matters beyond brand loyalty: With cross-border trade tensions pushing more Canadians to weigh where their spending dollars go, buyers who choose Roots specifically for its “Made in Canada” appeal will want to watch how the ownership structure plays out once the deal closes, the stock is delisted, and Marquee’s global growth plans take shape.
The bottom line
Leaving the TSX shifts the landscape for shareholders, who will see their stock retired and paid out at $4.10 per share once the transaction goes through. For everyday shoppers, however, the shift off the market won't mean any immediate changes in the aisle. The longer-term question is whether a mainstay of Canadian apparel can expand its global reach without losing its domestic soul.
That answer begins to take shape once shareholders cast their vote in October and Joe Mimran’s team takes the wheel to guide this iconic maple leaf brand into its next era.
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Amy Tokic is an SEO content editor for Money.ca. She holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Windsor. Amy is an award-winning author and has been writing professionally for 15 years, publishing articles in the lifestyle and health sectors.
