‘Zombie’ Brands and IPO Doldrums: Inside the Consumer Deep Freeze

A mergers and acquisitions slowdown for beauty, apparel and other consumer startups, plus a yearslong initial public offering drought, have created a quandary for once-hot brands: Many risk becoming too passé to go public but too big for buyers to swallow.

Avoiding that fate was top of mind for many investors, advisers and executives I spoke to this week at a major retail conference in Orlando, Fla. Some are cautiously optimistic that dealmaking could pick up this year. But they expect mainly licensing deals and rollups, which favor smaller startups, as opposed to strategic acquisitions by big consumer firms. That could leave larger brands in the lurch.