More corporate news – Page 63
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News briefs
Louis Garneau goes bankrupt
Louis Garneau, the Canadian brand of cycling apparel, has filed for bankruptcy protection in Canada and suspended the employment of 66 members of the staff at its headquarters in Quebec. The proceedings would not affect the company’s Sugoi subsidiary or its sales subsidiaries in the U.S. and Mexico. The filing ...
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News briefs
VF closes industry’s first “green bond”
(OIC) VF Corp. announced on Feb. 27 the closing of the first “green bond” in the apparel and footwear industry. The net proceeds from the €500 million bond offering will be used for investment in programs within the company’s “Made for Change Sustainability & Responsibility Strategy,” and to drive progress ...
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ArticleCoronavirus depresses Adidas’ and others’ sales in China
COVID-19 or the novel cronavirus, as the virus is now named, has already infected more than 79,000 people in 30 countries around the world, according to the World Health Organization, but it remains largely concentrated in China. While it has been expanding at a slower rate recently in the country, ...
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Article
Cabrinha Kites falls under new ownership
The leading Hawaiian kitesurfing brand is returning to its roots. Cabrinha’s founder, Pete Cabrinha, has teamed up with a U.S. investment company, Water Bound Investments, to buy the brand back from the Hong Kong-based NeilPryde Group. Water Bound Investments is managed by a former kite professional and Cabrinha team rider, ...
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Article
Shimano buys Pioneer Sports Cycle assets
Shimano is planning to develop new products, web services and applications using certain assets of Pioneer Sports Cycle that it has acquired from Pioneer Corporation, the U.S. company that developed the first pedaling monitor and cycling computers in 2013.
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Article
Big loss at Fitbit pending Google’s bid
Google’s proposal to acquire Fitbit for $2.1 billion was approved by the latter’s shareholders on Jan. 3, but it is still undergoing regulatory scrutiny in the U.S. and Europe. In both areas, regulatory authorities have expressed concern that the health and other data being collected by Fitbit will be used ...
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Article
Uvex offers smart crash sensors
Uvex, the German producer of spectacles and helmets, has entered into a strategic distribution partnership for Germany and Austria with a German start-up, Tocsen, which has developed smart crash sensors that are compatible with ski and bicycle helmets and can quickly call for help in an emergency.
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Article
MIPS’ sales jump by 41%
MIPS, a Swedish supplier of helmet-based safety technologies intended to protect wearers against rotational movements, saw good growth in the fourth quarter, with sales rocketing by 41 percent from the year-ago quarter to 88 million Swedish krona (€8.3m-$9.0m). Adjusted for currency effects and acquisitions, and on an organic basis, they ...
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Article
Moncler continues to grow, without Kering
The chief executives of Moncler and Kering have both denied press speculation about a possible acquisition of the Italian brand of luxury outerwear by the parent company of Gucci, Saint Laurent and other luxury goods brands, which spun off Puma two years ago. Indicating that there were no concrete plans ...
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News briefs
Wearcolour goes bankrupt
As reported in Sportfack, the Swedish industry magazine, Wearcolour Sweden, a Swedish brand of anoraks, ski jackets and trousers with distinctive color blocking that also owns the Void Cycling trademark, went bankrupt on Feb. 11 at its own request in Gothenburg. A notice on its website said that no orders ...
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News briefs
Coronavirus depresses Adidas’ sales in China
Updating investors on the effects of the coronavirus on its business, Adidas said that it performed well in China during the first three weeks of 2020 but has since suffered a decline of about 85 percent as compared to the same period of last year. A number of the German ...
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News briefs
Nike changes the business model in South America
Claiming that it wants to move closer to its customers in the South American market, Nike said that it will in future concentrate its business in the hands of only a few distributors, meaning that it plans to close down some sales subsidiaries. Under Armour took a similar step recently, ...
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Article
JD’s acquisition of Footasylum hits anti-trust hurdle
Mike Ashley, the maverick boss of Sports Direct, must be jumping with joy at getting his way with his criticism of JD Sports Fashion’s acquisition of Footasylum last April, which is again being questioned by the U.K.’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). The CMA launched a review of the case ...
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News briefs
New distribution for Hurley in Europe
Hurley’s EMEA business has been taken over as a single entity by David Meire and Javier Carrera, two former Nike employees from Spain, who will manage it through a distribution agreement with the brand’s new owner, a brand management company, Bluestar Alliance. Meire was general manager or vice president at ...
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News briefs
Asics invests in another start-up
Asics has invested in No New Folk Studio, a Japanese start-up that has developed a system to measure and analyze foot movement. The Japanese footwear company will be using Orphe Track, as the system is called, to develop “smart running shoes” that generate data such as gait, stride, foot-strike pattern ...
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News briefs
Callaway offers virtual reality
Callaway Golf has announced a partnership with AAA Games Studios, the gaming and virtual reality (VR) experts based in Madrid. AAA Games is the developer and owner of “Golf 5 WIPP,” a proprietary VR technology that simulates the movement of golf clubs and the golfer’s swing, thereby providing an immersive ...
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ArticleGresvig goes bankrupt
A new, unnamed strategic investor is in line to take over majority control over the Gresvig Retail Group, according to our sources. The second-largest Norwegian sporting goods retailer, which recently decided to rebrand all its stores to the Intersport banner (SGI Europe Vol. 30 N° 29+30 of Aug. 29, 2019), ...
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ArticleSigna expands in Spain and Switzerland
Signa, the Austrian-based real estate and retail giant is further expanding its reach beyond the core German market with a small acquisition in Spain and a bigger one in Switzerland.
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Article
A rule change to deal with Nike’s Vaporfly
In response to controversy over Nike’s Vaporfly running shoe and the bouncy carbon-fiber plate inserted in its sole, World Athletics has instituted new regulations on athletic footwear worn for competition (For background, see SGI Europe – Vol. 31 n°2+3 of Jan. 24).
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Article
Uncertainty over the non-recreational use of Nike’s Vaporfly
Last year, the Kenyan distance runners Eliud Kipchoge and Brigid Kosgei made headlines around the world. Kipchoge became the first human being ever to run a marathon – albeit an unofficial one – in less than two hours, while Kosgei broke the women’s world record for the same distance. Both ...
