News briefs - Corporate and M&A – Page 52
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News briefs
Two Norwegian distributors join forces
Spex Holding is acquiring all the shares of two Norwegian wholesale distribution companies, Beach Mountain and Response Nordic. As reported by the Norwegian Sports Industry Association, Invest42, until now the sole owner of Beach Mountain, is becoming a co-owner of Spex. Both Beach Mountain and Response Nordic, which is already ...
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News briefsHuski Wear, a new Swedish-based skiwear brand
With the backing of a Chinese firm and a brand of hot chocolate, three veterans of the sports apparel industry, Lena Claesson, Magnus Liljeblad and Jonas Olsson, have launched a digital-only brand of sports apparel in Gothenburg, Sweden, called Huski Wear. Claesson was formerly design and product director at Peak ...
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News briefsAllbirds is reportedly worth $1.7 bn in a funding round
Allbirds, the Californian brand of sustainable footwear made with wood and wool fiber, has closed a new $100 million Series E funding round led by Franklin Templeton, alongside T. Rowe Price, Baillie Gifford, TDM Growth Partners, Rockefeller Capital Management and other investors. According to The Wall Street Journal, which cites ...
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News briefs
Royer will have to trim its staff
The loss of a major distribution contract for New Balance in France, the Benelux countries and Germany and the crisis linked to Covid-19 have led Groupe Royer of France to start discussions with its staff about the dismissal of about 200 of its 500 employees. The loss of the contract, ...
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News briefs
Clarus raises $11.5m from three top investors
Clarus Corporation, parent company of Black Diamond, Pieps, Sierra Bullets and Skinourishment, has entered into an agreement with three of its top 10 investors - Brown Advisory, Greenhouse Funds and TT Investimentos - to sell 900,000 registered shares of the company to support future growth. The sale will be priced ...
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News briefs
Smith moves its consumer & dealer services division to Portland
Smith Optics has transferred its consumer & dealer services division to its headquarters in Portland, where it will join the product, marketing and sales departments. The division was previously located at Smith’s Utah-based manufacturing facility. The Portland team will include account managers coming from Utah and new hires such as ...
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News briefs
New super loan leads S&P to upgrade Boardriders’ credit rating
Shortly after downgrading Boardriders’ credit rating, Standard & Poor’s upgraded it slightly from SD to CCC as the parent company of Quiksilver, Billabong, Roxy and other action sports brands completed a new transaction with its lenders. It notably obtained a “super senior term loan” that provides it with much-needed liquidity ...
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News briefs
Positive rating by Moody’s for Canada Goose
Rating its debt for the first time, Moody’s gave Canada Goose a B1 corporate family rating and a B2 rating to a proposed senior secured loan of 402 million Canadian dollars (€258m-$300m) due in 2027, nearly half of which would be used to add cash to its balance sheet and ...
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News briefsExtrem Skis expands ski factory in Åre
The Swedish ski brand Extrem Skis has unveiled pictures of the new 350-square-meter expansion of its ski factory in Åre. The company stated that it took three years of planning and one year of construction to complete the new annex. Extrem Skis also invested in two state-of-the-art machines and drilled ...
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News briefs
A new Iberian distribution company, Excens Sports, for Fischer and other brands
Spain’s Excens Group, which owns several outdoor and bike brands, has moved into wholesale distribution, acquiring the Iberian distribution rights for the Fischer, Smith, Barts, Level and Polaroid brands. To handle them, it has created a distribution company called Excens Sports. The group is planning further expansions of its brand ...
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News briefs
Benko gets 92.5% of Signa Holding
René Benko, the Austrian investor, is raising his indirect stake in Signa Holding to 92.5 percent by financing the bulk of a €485 million equity increase through the holding companies that he controls, according to Bloomberg and various Austrian media. Another shareholder, the Swiss-based investor Ernst Tanner, will see his ...
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News briefs
Glenmuir launches a special online platform
Glenmuir has launched a new online platform that is meant to simplify the buying process for golf professionals and retailers who wish to order club-crested clothing made by Glenmuir and its subsidiary Sunderland of Scotland. Described as being the first of its kind in the golf industry, the platform can ...
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News briefs
UA to control its EMEA sales from Amsterdam
Under Armour has announced plans to establish a “futuristic” digital hub at its European headquarters in Amsterdam to centralize sales operations and to improve the brand experience. The hub is to have a “combination of physical and digital attributes,” supporting in-person and remote selling. It will combine an “enhanced digital ...
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News briefs
Under Armour expands its restructuring plan
Under Armour is now planning to lay off a total of 600 employees, working primarily in its corporate offices around the world and representing around 9 percent of its total staff, as part of an expanded restructuring program involving pre-tax charges of between $550 million and $600 million to be ...
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News briefs
Helly Hansen overhauls its IT
Helly Hansen is overhauling its computer system to smooth operations, cut costs and come into compliance with regulations in various countries. The Norwegian sports apparel and gear producer is stringing together the Infor M3 enterprise resource platform (ERP), the Salesforce customer resource management (CRM) platform, the Front Systems point-of-sale system, ...
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News briefs
Fanatics acquires Top of the World from Vetta
Fanatics, the Florida-based provider of sports merchandise, is acquiring some of the assets of Vetta Brands, which is currently under liquidation. Chief among these assets is Top of the World, which, until the Covid-19 pandemic wiped out its business, had been manufacturing hats for hundreds of college sports brands at ...
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News briefs
S&P downgrades Boardriders
Standard & Poor’s has downgraded the debt ratings for Boardriders in relation to a recent offering of $155 million intended to improve its liquidity position. The new offering includes $65 million worth of term loans contributed by the company’s major shareholder, Oaktree Capital Management, $45 million contributed by other existing ...
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News briefsApplications are open for Ispo Brandnew
ISPO Brandnew, the largest platform for sporting goods start-ups, is entering the next round, opening its application platform at ispo.com. The competition was launched 20 years ago and has since produced some high-profile winners including GoPro, Naish Kites, Maloja, Nixon and On Running. More than 400 products competed for the ...
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News briefs
Speedo to investigate its licensee in India
Speedo International is reportedly launching an investigation into a factory in India that manufactures products under its own brand name, because another Indian factory owned by the same licensee is suspected of labor abuses. The factory is operated by Speedo’s licensee for India and Sri Lanka, Page Industries, which distributes ...
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News briefs
A special director joins Under Armour’s board after a new shareholders’ complaint
Under Armour has announced that Wes Moore, the chief executive of the Robin Hood Foundation, has joined its board of directors. The foundation has distributed more than $3 billion to organizations that address disparities in education, housing, food insecurity and workforce development. Moore, 41, has worked in investment banking and ...
