All Corporations articles – Page 61
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News briefs
Superfeet is acquired by a private equity firm
Westward Partners, a Seattle-based private equity firm focusing on companies in the Pacific Northwest, has acquired Superfeet, a manufacturer of insoles and recovery footwear founded in 1977 and based in Ferndale, Washington. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Westward will take over majority ownership of the company from ...
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News briefs
The Munich region is set to host Europe’s largest surf park
Following the official approval of the project, the ground-breaking ceremony for Surftown MUC is scheduled for the autumn of 2021, and its completion is planned for the summer of 2023. Located near Munich, the new complex will comprise a 20,000-square-meter surf pool as well as a 29,000-square-meter multifunctional hybrid building ...
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News briefs
Xtep issues bonds to relaunch K-Swiss and Palladium
Xtep International of China is selling two tranches of convertible bonds to entities controlled by Hillhouse Capital to finance an international relaunch of the K-Swiss and Palladium brands, which it took over from E-Land Footwear in 2019. Hillhouse, which is controlled by the Chinese billionaire Zhang Lei, knows the industry ...
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News briefs
Finnish firm invests in plastic snow toys
Witta Oy, a Finnish manufacturer of injection-moulded pipe fittings and other industrial plastic products, has agreed to take over the manufacture of toy sleds, snow shovels and other snow toys from another Finnish company, Orthex Corporation, which has decided to concentrate on storage and other household items. The contract, whose ...
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News briefs
Icon Health & Fitness becomes iFit
Icon Health & Fitness has changed its corporate name to iFit Health & Fitness to assert the value of its proprietary connected fitness platform. In the words of the U.S. company’s founder, chairman and CEO, Scott Watterson, “we are elevating the name of our operating system.” This system channels live ...
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Article
A vertical in Vancouver buys Reigning Champ in the same town
Aritzia, a vertically integrated designer and retailer of everyday women’s luxury clothing, has agreed to acquire Reigning Champ, a designer and manufacturer of premium athletic wear for men and women. Like Arc’teryx or a much larger vertical sports apparel company, Lululemon Athletica, both companies operate out of Vancouver. Founded in ...
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News briefs
Pelican acquires an inflatable watercraft brand
Pelican International has acquired a California-based pioneer in inflatable watercraft, Advanced Elements, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Confluence Outdoors. Details of the transaction were not disclosed. Pelican says the takeover ”carves a path forward to help us become the premier brand of inflatable kayaks and SUPs in more than 50 counttries.” ...
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News briefs
Dorel Industries closes new $450 million credit facility
Earlier this year – and after lively discussions between Cerberus Capital Management, Dorel Industries and its shareholders – the Canadian conglomerate pulled out of a previously planned going-private transaction. With shareholders clearly expressing confidence in Dorel’s future and its greater potential for Dorel as a public company, the group has ...
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News briefs
Lululemon sets up Portland office for its footwear
Lululemon Athletica, the fast-growing sports apparel company based in Vancouver, has leased a 28,000-square-foot office space south of the border in Portland, Oregon, the sports footwear cluster of the U.S., to help prepare the launch of its first footwear line, according to the Portland Business Journal. The usually well informed ...
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Article
New criticism for JD Sports’ executive compensation policy
New criticism has emerged against the compensation package agreed for Peter Cowgill, the forceful executive chairman of JD Sports Fashion. A shareholder advisory service, Glass Lewis, is calling on investors to vote against the “inappropriate” pay policy of the company, which is controlled by the Pentland Group, at its annual ...
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News briefs
Sport-Tiedje grew by 55% last year, thanks to e-commerce
The German-based Sport-Tiedje Group, which claims to be still Europe’s largest retailer for home fitness products, has reported a 55 percent sales increase to €203 million for last year, with growth in all European countries, as higher online revenues compensated for the partial closure of its 65 stores in the ...
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News briefs
Iconix is going private under Lancer Capital's ownership
The Iconix Brand Group, whose brand portfolio includes Danskin, Starter and Umbro, among others, has entered into a definitive agreement to be bought by a private equity company, Lancer Capital, though its affiliate Iconix Acquisition Corp., in an all-cash transaction that values Iconix at about $585 million including net debt. ...
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Case Study
SSU will take over Wiggle and go public as the world’s leading sports e-tailer
Signa Sports United (SSU), the big international sports e-tailer based in Berlin, has entered into a business combination agreement with Yucaipa Acquisition Corporation, a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) based in Los Angeles, to finance the acquisition of Wiggle Chain Reaction Cycle, alias Wiggle CRC, a big U.K.-based bike ...
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News briefs
Adidas invests €3 million in Spinnova
Adidas has agreed to subscribe for €3 million worth of shares in Spinnova’s planned initial public offering (IPO). Spinnova, a Finnish manufacturer of textile fibers derived from wood or agricultural waste, is planning to list on the Nasdaq Helsinki First North Growth Market. The company is building its first factory ...
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News briefs
Prevayl secures £7.5 million investment
Prevayl, a start-up specializing in “intelligent” and connected sportswear based in Manchester, has secured a £7.5 million (€8.7m-$10.6m) pre-revenue investment that is supposed to help the company “take wearable health technology to new heights.” The investment has been made by Stonebridge, the private equity fund headed by James Cox. Prevayl ...
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Article
Nice Footwear considers reshoring and acquisitions
Nice Footwear, an Italian footwear licensing company that also owns the Kronos brand of sports shoes, is considering a reshoring of its production from the Far East to Italy and the launch of e-commerce. Specializing in the design and sourcing of sneakers, the company has a team of 21 designers ...
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News briefs
Peloton plans to enter one or two markets each year
While confirming its entry into the Australian market, which is expected to coincide with the start of its 2021/22 financial year on July 1, Peloton Interactive said it plans to move into one or two additional foreign markets each year. Addressing financial analysts at the Bank of America’s Securities Global ...
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Case Study
New boss and new structures for the Luhta group
Juha Luhtanen, 51, became the new managing director of the Luhta Sportswear Company on May 4, taking the place of his older brother, Vesa Luhtanen, who has retired after many years at the helm of the Finnish-based family-owned company, previously known as the L-Fashion Group. The change of management has ...
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News briefs
Growing Eleiko makes new investments
Eleiko, the leading Swedish-based producer of weightlifting equipment, has started construction of a new logistics center in Halmstad, close to its head office in Kistinge, to help cope with its continued growth, which reportedly led it to book sales of about 500 million Swedish kronor (€45m-$60m) last year, up from ...
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Article
Bike and sports e-tailer Bike24 plans to go public in 2021
In September 2019, The Riverside Company bought back German e-commerce retailer for cycling, outdoor, fitness and swimming products, Bike24 GmbH, from a big British cycling e-commerce operator, Wiggle CRC. The private equity company had sold the continental European cycling online platform to the British industry giant in 2017, but that ...