Latest Headlines – Page 447
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Deters Is Kettler’S New General Manager
Hans-Hermann Deters, the former German journalist and a long-time Reebok veteran, has been appointed as general manager of Kettler, in charge of sales and marketing for all its business units, including sports, bicycles, garden and kids & play. He will be responsible for both the domestic and international business. He ...
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Jürgen Kiefer Exits Uhlsport
Jürgen Kiefer, managing director and 25 percent shareholder of Uhlsport, has left the company. We hear that his decision was rather personal and related to conflict of ideas with the Daiss family, which controls the company. His departure was a surprise as Uhlsport seemed to be doing quite well lately. ...
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Karihtala Replaces Sulin At The Head Of Exel Sports
After a very challenging year for the Finnish pole and floorball manufacturer, marked by decreasing sales and massive restructuring, Mika Sulin has agreed to step down as managing director of Exel Sports as of March 1. He will be replaced by Aki Karihtala, now 45 years old, who has served ...
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Swix Moves Production To Lithuania
Swix Sport plans to start the production of its aluminum poles in Lithuania next month, taking over the jobs of 18 employees who were previously handling the manufacture of about 500,000 million pairs of such poles at the company’s Norwegian factory in Lillehammer. Located in an industrial part north of ...
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Viking Returns Into Norwegian Hands
Bertel O. Steen, a Norwegian conglomerate that owns 70 percent of ASICS Scandinavia, has acquired the leading Norwegian footwear brand, Viking Fottøy, from the Dutch Hevea group for €29 million. The takeover will give the group a firm footing in both the athletic and brown shoe segments, shielding it from ...
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Rapala Buys An American Lure Firm
The Finnish group has agreed to purchase Outdoor Innovations LLC of Tulsa, Oklahoma, an American firm that sells fishing lures under the Terminator brand, including the brand, inventories, patents and some other assets. Rapala VMC Group, was particularly interested in its patented titanium wire technology, which it plans to apply ...
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Eider Takes Over The Killy License
Eider has taken over the global license for Killy, the upmarket skiwear brand, which was previously handled by Nevica Technical Sport System of the UK. The contract, which starts off with the Fall/Winter 2007/08 collection, is for 10 years with an option for renewal. It gives the French outdoor clothing ...
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Bankrupt Malden Mills Is Showered By Takeover Offers
The famous financially stricken vendor of Polartec fabrics has again filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last Jan. 11, and it is set to be auctioned off to the highest bidder in a Massachusetts court, probably sometime in February, cleaning up its balance sheet. This should happen around mid-February, although ...
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Mixed Preliminary Results For Callaway
Preliminary results for Callaway Golf indicate that its sales inched up by 2 percent to $1,018 million in 2006, generating net earnings of about $23.1 million, compared with $13.3 million in the previous year. Leading the sales growth were the Callaway Golf and Odyssey brands, which grew by 9 percent. ...
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Crocs Expands In Europe And Extends The Brand Into New Categories
Crocs is moving into a larger distribution center in Rotterdam to cope with the growth of the European market. With 20,000 square meters of space and a height of 12 meters, the new center will replace a 9,000-sqm. facility in the same port city, allowing the company to stock up ...
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More From The Icr Exchange Conference
While targeting a 14.0 percent operating margin, up from 12.7 percent in 2005, VF Corp. forecasts annual growth of between 6 and 8 percent, half of which would come from new acquisitions. The group’s so-called Lifestyle segment, which comprises the brands grouped under the Outdoor and Sportswear Coalitions, should post ...
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Volcom is expanding into footwear with non-technical products like flip...
Volcom is expanding into footwear with non-technical products like flip flops, slippers and slip-ons. It is also moving into girls’ swimwear with its Spring 2007 line.. Volcom expects to make major profits in Europe from the 2008 financial year onwards. The company has budgeted expenditures of $2.5 million on the ...
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Deckers Corp.’s management has told analysts at a recent conference...
Deckers Corp.’s management has told analysts at a recent conference that, with $200 million in annual sales, UGG has now reached the critical mass where it can truly become a global brand. In Europe, the UK market now represents 44 percent of sales, up from 22 percent last year, and ...
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K2 Corp. has set a target that 30 percent of...
K2 Corp. has set a target that 30 percent of the products offered in each division will be new releases each year. The company sees the sporting goods market as being still highly fragmented and conducive to new acquisitions for K2. Logistics is one area where consolidation can bring cost ...
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Mike Ashley’s Sportsworld International has acquired yet another British sporting...
Mike Ashley’s Sportsworld International has acquired yet another British sporting goods retail chain, Streetwise Sports, that operates 32 stores. According to the Manchester Evening News, he paid £10 million (€15.2m-$19.8m) for the company.
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Karstadt Quelle says it completed its reorganization successfully in the...
Karstadt Quelle says it completed its reorganization successfully in the 4th quarter of 2006, posting a sales increase of 1 percent to €4.2 billion without include Neckermann and other operations being spun off. The brick-and-mortar business, which includes the Karstadt Sport superstores, grew by 4.4 percent to €1.38 billion, with ...
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The majority of the retail members of SED who were...
The majority of the retail members of SED who were selling bikes and bike accessories in France under the Véloland banner on 16 stores, have split off and bought the rights to the brand to form their own buying group, leaving the French buying group with two other banners, Twinner ...
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Shakespeare, the fishing tackle subsidiary of K2, has bought Penn...
Shakespeare, the fishing tackle subsidiary of K2, has bought Penn Fishing, a U.S. company based in Philadelphia that is described as a market leader in salt-water trolling, spinning reels and salt-water rods. Financial terms of the purchase were not disclosed. Penn will likely remain based in Philadelphia and will continue ...
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Elisa, a large Finnish telecommunication operator with annual sales of...
Elisa, a large Finnish telecommunication operator with annual sales of some €1.5 billion, has taken over FRWD, a small bankrupt Finnish developer of outdoor computers that entered the consumer market two years ago. FRWD, which stands for Forward, says it had gotten excellent feedback for its new series of sports ...
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In line with its policy to control more of the...
In line with its policy to control more of the distribution of Reebok’s products around the world, the Adidas Group has bought the rights for the Reebok brand from the former distributor, RBK Sport Urunieri, through its own Turkish subsidiary, Adidas Spor Malzmeleri Satis ve Pazarlama. Haluk Özmutlu, managing director ...
