News briefs - Corporate and M&A – Page 94

  • News briefs

    Jason Whitson and Tommy Fad, the founders of Gritness, have...

    2015-07-22T00:00:00Z

    Jason Whitson and Tommy Fad, the founders of Gritness, have confirmed on their own website that their search engine for group fitness activities has been sold to Under Armour (UA). The idea behind Gritness, launched in June 2013 in Austin, Texas, was to stimulate group fitness by creating a digital ...

  • News briefs

    According to the Oregonian, Adidas is considering the establishment of...

    2015-07-22T00:00:00Z

    According to the Oregonian, Adidas is considering the establishment of a factory in Detroit to make sneakers for the North American market. The rumor, which could not be confirmed, follows a statement by Nike that it would create 10,000 jobs in the U.S. if the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Vietnam and ...

  • News briefs

    Wolverine Worldwide has raised its senior secured credit facility by...

    2015-07-22T00:00:00Z

    Wolverine Worldwide has raised its senior secured credit facility by $300 million to $950 million, comprising a term loan of $450 million and a $500 million revolving credit. The new credit agreement negotiated with company's lenders also extends the maturity date of the facility. It lowers the cost of servicing ...

  • News briefs

    Skechers has signed a new credit agreement with various banks,...

    2015-07-22T00:00:00Z

    Skechers has signed a new credit agreement with various banks, replacing the one it had negotiated in 2009. It covers revolving loans of up to $250 million, or even $350 million, with relatively marginal interest rates. It allows Skechers to pay dividends to its shareholders and to buy back shares ...

  • News briefs

    Skechers USA has been upgraded by Standard & Poors Dow...

    2015-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Skechers USA has been upgraded by Standard & Poors Dow Jones to its MidCap 400 Index. Meanwhile, financial analysts have been speculating that Nike and Adidas have been considering a takeover of the fast-growing American lifestyle and sports footwear brand. Apparently, there has been no expression of interest, though.

  • News briefs

    Maier Sports Group, the German snow sports and outdoor apparel...

    2015-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Maier Sports Group, the German snow sports and outdoor apparel brand, is to be taken over by Schwan-Stabilo, the German group that is already the owner of Deuter and Ortovox. Martin Riebel, chief executive at Deuter and Schwan-Stabilo Outdoor, said that Maier Sports neatly completed the group's offering in the ...

  • News briefs

    Backcountry.com, a leading U.S. online outdoor retailer, has been acquired...

    2015-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Backcountry.com, a leading U.S. online outdoor retailer, has been acquired by TSG Consumer Partners, an investment firm specializing in the branded consumer market. The deal was sealed with the previous owner, Liberty Interactive Corporation, at an undisclosed price. TSG said it would help the online retailer with the famous goat ...

  • News briefs

    Pon Holdings, the acquisitive Dutch bicycle group, has taken over...

    2015-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Pon Holdings, the acquisitive Dutch bicycle group, has taken over Santa Cruz Bicycles from California, which specializes in high-end mountain bikes. Its range is sold in about 70 countries under the Santa Cruz brand for men and Juliana for women. Pon, a major Dutch car importer, has been storming through ...

  • News briefs

    Minerva, a Belgian bicycle manufacturer, was declared bankrupt on June...

    2015-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Minerva, a Belgian bicycle manufacturer, was declared bankrupt on June 25 by a commercial court in Hasselt, Belgium. Employing 16 people, the company reportedly had an annual production of about 20,000 city and trekking bikes. Minerva is an established bicycle brand in Belgium and even more so in the province ...

  • News briefs

    A diversified Chinese group, Dalian Wanda Group Co., has closed...

    2015-07-09T00:00:00Z

    A diversified Chinese group, Dalian Wanda Group Co., has closed the transaction for its planned acquisition of a majority stake in Infronts Sports & Media, the Swiss-based international sports marketing agency run by Philippe Blatter, from the Bridgepoint private equity group. The transaction is valued at about €1.05 billion.

  • News briefs

    A majority of Rocket Internet's shareholders has decided to raise...

    2015-07-09T00:00:00Z

    A majority of Rocket Internet's shareholders has decided to raise up to two billion euros in new funding through convertible bonds and other means to help it to become the biggest internet platform outside the U.S. and China. The Berlin-based company, which helped Zalando to start up, already has about ...

  • News briefs

    Zalando's listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange has been upgraded...

    2015-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Zalando's listing on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange has been upgraded from the SDAX to the MDAX index of the 50 major German mid-cap companies. The market capitalization of the company has risen by 40 percent since it went public last October on the strength of its improved financial results.

  • News briefs

    Diadora has reopened a production line at its factory in...

    2015-07-09T00:00:00Z

    Diadora has reopened a production line at its factory in Caerano di San Marco, near Montebelluna, to make a “made in Italy” line of high-end sneakers in collaboration with leading sneaker stores. The goal is to reach an annual output of about 100,000 pairs. The plant has been closed for ...

  • News briefs

    According to unconfirmed German news reports, a Chinese conglomerate, Fosun,...

    2015-06-19T00:00:00Z

    According to unconfirmed German news reports, a Chinese conglomerate, Fosun, together with a German investor, Bernd Beetz, is set to take over most of the shares of Bogner. A football champion, Philipp Lahm, and the current CEO of Daimler, Dieter Zetsche, would also invest in the company. Beets, 63, is ...

  • News briefs

    The second tranche of a share buyback program initiated by...

    2015-06-19T00:00:00Z

    The second tranche of a share buyback program initiated by the Adidas Group in March was completed on June 15. This was a tranche with an aggregate acquisition cost of up to €300 million excluding incidental purchasing costs, but no more than 6 million treasury shares, to be repurchased exclusively ...

  • News briefs

    An Italian investment group, Palladio Finanziaria, has acquired a 40...

    2015-06-19T00:00:00Z

    An Italian investment group, Palladio Finanziaria, has acquired a 40 percent stake in Finproject, the Italian company that makes the EVA soles for Crocs' shoes. Palladio, which bought the shares from Xenon Private Equity through a subsidiary called Vei Capital, will help Finproject to broaden the use of its special ...

  • News briefs

    Sport Nordic, the Danish company that owns Sportmaster, has added...

    2015-06-19T00:00:00Z

    Sport Nordic, the Danish company that owns Sportmaster, has added an important sneaker store in Copenhagen to its store network. After buying the Unisport store in Copenhagen last January, it has taken over Rezet Sneaker, a store that sells the sneakers of major sports brands. Rezet was originally founded in ...

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    Zyvex Technologies, the nanotechnology company based in Columbus, Ohio, has...

    2015-06-19T00:00:00Z

    Zyvex Technologies, the nanotechnology company based in Columbus, Ohio, has been acquired by Ocsial. The two firms announced the deal at the TechConnect World Innovation Conference and Expo in Washington, DC on June 16. The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Zyvex, founded in 1997, has contributed to ...

  • News briefs

    Summit Sports, a predominantly online retailer from Michigan specializing in...

    2015-06-19T00:00:00Z

    Summit Sports, a predominantly online retailer from Michigan specializing in winter sports, outdoor, water and action sports products, has been purchased by Digital Fuel Capital, a U.S. private equity group focused on online business investments. Established as a store in Michigan, Summit Sports was one of the earliest online specialists, ...

  • News briefs

    Fitbit has filed a price range of $14 to $16...

    2015-06-03T00:00:00Z

    Fitbit has filed a price range of $14 to $16 per share for its initial public offering, which would give the maker of wearable fitness tracking devices a market capitalization of $3.1 billion at the midpoint of the price range. The company will be selling 22.4 million shares and current ...