News briefs - Corporate and M&A – Page 57
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News briefs
Former Sports Direct has some problems
Frasers Group says the current uncertainty caused by the Covid-19 “shock” is affecting its bank credit lines and its suppliers’ credit insurance. It understands that the majority of new credit insurance cover has been withdrawn for the time being. The British group, formerly called Sports Direct International, reports that it ...
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News briefs
Bench returns to its origins in Manchester
Gordon Brothers of Boston announced the sale of its rights outside the Americas for Bench, the streetwear brand with British origins, to Wraith, an affiliate of Apparel Brands Limited of Manchester that is currently one of Bench’s primary European licensees. The purchase price has not been disclosed. Founded in 2017, ...
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News briefs
Animal to close permanently in January
A slow market in the U.K. made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic is leading to the demise of Animal. The British surf fashion brand was begun in 1987 in the town of Poole to sell a hook and loop watch strap-designed by its founders, two surfers: Ian Elliot and Nigel ...
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News briefs
Alibaba to expand its cloud
According to Reuters, Alibaba Group Holding will be investing 200 billion yuan (€26.1bn-$28.3bn) over three years to bolster its data center and develop semiconductors and operating systems for its cloud-computing infrastructure. The Covid-19 pandemic has spurred demand for business software in China, and high data volumes occasioned by quarantines have ...
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News briefs
Footway’s bid for Sportamore has succeeded
The tender offer launched by Footway for Sportamore has been accepted by 95.9 percent of the Swedish sports e-tailer’s shareholders. Footway, a more international-oriented online shoe retailer, is paying a total of 439 million Swedish kronor (€40.4m-$43.9m) for Sportamore. Because of its de-listing from the Nasdaq Stockholm exchange, the publication ...
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News briefs
Wolverine holding virtual-only AGM
Wolverine Worldwide announced on April 17 that its annual general meeting of shareholders will be held in a virtual-only format on April 30, due to pubic health consideration related to the Covid-19 pandemic. Shareholders who were registered as such on March 18 will be invited to visit a dedicated website ...
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News briefs
Remote voting for Thule’s AGM
Thule Group is encouraging shareholders to exercise their voting rights remotely in advance of the Swedish company’s annual general meeting, scheduled for April 28, in order to minimize the number of people gathered at its location. They have to fill out and send a registration form by April 22 to ...
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News briefs
Big layoffs at Stadium
Just after the announcement of Intersport Sweden’s court-backed reorganization plan, the country’s biggest sporting goods retailer, Stadium, indicated that it was laying off many of its employees because of a big drop in sales, especially in the Stockholm area. Sweden is one of the few countries where retailers that sell ...
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News briefs
O2Feel funding
O2Feel, the French e-bike brand, has raised €9 million thanks to investments by Compagnie d’Anjou and some partner banks. Based in Wambrechies, in the North of France, O2Feel posted revenues of €15 million in 2019.
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News briefs
Hanesbrands downgraded by Moody’s
Hansebrands, the parent company of Champion, sees its corporate family rating downgraded by Moody’s from ”stable” to “negative.” The rating agency cites the closure of retail stores and the possibility of a protracted reduction in apparel consumption because of the coronavirus outbreak. The company said that it is guaranteeing the ...
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News briefs
Rapala approves share buyback
The annual meeting of Rapala VMC approved on March 26 a proposal that no dividend will be distributed for 2019. It also authorized the board to repurchase up to two million own shares, corresponding to less than 10 percent of its equity until June 30, 2021.
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News briefsVibram pays a 2019 bonus as a positive signal
Like many other companies, Vibram has been hit hard by the current Covid-19 pandemic. Both the research center and production at the Vibram Tech Center in Guangzhou, China, were closed for almost 10 weeks and are now operating at about 80 percent capacity. The production site in Albizzate, near Milan, ...
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News briefs
Kathmandu launches an equity increase
Kathmandu is raising additional funds, for a total of NZ$ 207 million (€112.5m-$121.3m) through a series of placements with institutional and other shareholders, offering 1.2 shares for each share in their possession. Institutional shareholders have already taken up 96 percent of their entitlements under a first tranche that ended on ...
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News briefs
Boardriders divests Xcel
Boardriders has sold its brand of wetsuits, Xcel, on undisclosed terms to ZG Collective of Colorado. Boardriders had recently decided to grow its six primary brands – Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy, DC Shoes, RVCA and Element – over the long term by investing in digital operations, category extensions, new go-to-market models, ...
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News briefs
Credit agencies downgrade Boardriders
Standard & Poors and Moody’s have both downgraded the credit rating of Boardriders, the parent company of Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong and other action sports brands. S&P has reversed its outlook to negative based on results and guidance provided by the company to the rating agency. It feels that its operating ...
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News briefs
Will Intersport or Sportmaster acquire Go Sport France?
Rallye, which controls the French Go Sport chain, has reached an agreement for the rescheduling of its debt of €2.9 billion, setting deadlines of four years with its banks and ten years with other creditors. It is not yet clear how the package will be financed. One of the options ...
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News briefs
Woolpower to expand production capacity
(OIC) Woolpower, the Swedish specialist in wool bodywear and accessories, says it intends to further expand the production capacity in its own factory because of its good long-term order situation and is investing in new employees and machines. Up to 30 knitting machine operators, converters and seamstresses are to be ...
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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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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 ...
