Samsonite has agreed to acquire the company in a deal worth $210 million, bringing the celebrity-founded brand into one of the world’s largest luggage groups.

Mitchell, who launched BÉIS in 2018, described the deal as a “dream come true” and said the partnership would allow the company to grow on a much larger international scale.

From an idea on a cocktail napkin to a global brand

BÉIS began with a simple idea.

Mitchell, a passionate traveller herself, originally sketched the concept for what would later become the brand’s bestselling Weekender Bag on a cocktail napkin.

What followed was the development of a travel label combining practical design with a strong lifestyle identity.

Since launching eight years ago, BÉIS has expanded far beyond its original products, building a collection that includes suitcases, travel bags, accessories and even children’s luggage inspired by Mitchell’s daughters, Atlas and Rome.

The brand has also developed a highly recognisable visual identity and built much of its growth through direct relationships with consumers and a strong digital presence.

Samsonite to acquire majority stake

The transaction will see Samsonite acquire the 70 per cent stake currently owned by Beach House Group, the company that helped launch BÉIS.

The acquisition is valued at approximately $210 million and is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval.

For Samsonite, the deal represents an opportunity to strengthen its presence in the lifestyle luggage category while gaining access to a younger, digitally engaged customer base.

Samsonite Group CEO Kyle Gendreau said the acquisition fits the company’s broader strategy of expanding consumer-focused brands, improving its digital capabilities and increasing its presence across lifestyle bags.

Shay Mitchell will remain involved

Mitchell is not stepping away from the company she created.

She currently serves as Chief Creative Officer of BÉIS and is expected to remain closely involved as the brand enters its next stage of development.

The actress and entrepreneur said she was proud of what the company’s relatively small team had achieved over the past eight years.

Joining Samsonite, she explained, gives BÉIS the opportunity to pursue ambitions that would have been difficult to achieve independently.

For Mitchell, the acquisition is less about ending one chapter than creating the resources needed to build a much larger one.

BÉIS prepares for international expansion

BÉIS CEO Adeela Hussain Johnson also welcomed the deal, highlighting Samsonite’s international scale and operational experience.

The combination could give BÉIS access to stronger global distribution, supply chains and international markets while allowing the brand to preserve the creative personality that helped establish it.

That balance will be particularly important.

BÉIS has grown in part because it feels different from many traditional luggage companies. Its products are designed not only around functionality but around the habits, frustrations and aesthetic expectations of modern travellers.

Samsonite’s challenge will be to help scale that identity without making the brand feel overly corporate.

More than a celebrity brand

BÉIS is also an example of how celebrity-founded businesses have evolved.

Rather than simply licensing her name to an existing company, Mitchell has remained directly involved in the creative direction and development of the brand.

Over eight years, BÉIS has moved from a celebrity-backed start-up into a business valuable enough to attract a $210 million acquisition.

Its growth reflects a wider shift in the relationship between entertainment, entrepreneurship and consumer brands, where public figures increasingly use their audiences to build companies capable of operating independently of their celebrity careers.

Lifestyle, travel and community

BÉIS has also expanded its identity through collaborations and social initiatives.

In 2024, the company launched a utility collection supporting the National Park Foundation, helping fund conservation efforts and programmes designed to reconnect young people with the outdoors.

The initiative included Camp BÉIS pop-ups near major American national parks including Yosemite, Zion, Rocky Mountain and Great Smoky Mountains.

Projects like these have helped position the company as more than simply a luggage label, connecting travel products with a broader lifestyle and community-focused image.

A new era for BÉIS

For Samsonite, acquiring BÉIS adds a fast-growing lifestyle brand to a portfolio already built around travel.

For Mitchell, the transaction represents validation of an idea that began almost casually and eventually developed into a major consumer business.

Eight years after launching the company, she says she remains as excited about BÉIS as she was at the beginning.

And with Samsonite’s global infrastructure now behind it, the brand could be preparing for its most ambitious phase yet.