CORPORATE AND M&A
+++ Provest Equity Partners and CTW Venture Partners have invested an undisclosed amount in next-gen materials maker Natural Fiber Welding
+++ RVRC Holding AB’s senior executives have fully exercised their LTIP 2022/2026 warrants, generating SEK 56.3 million (~€5.3m), issuing about 1.55 million new shares, and increasing CEO Paul Fischbein’s stake to 650,000 shares
+++ Swiss sportswear brand On has become the first private-sector partner of Switzerland’s 2038 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games bid, committing to cover 10 percent of the required private deficit guarantee and support a decentralized national hosting model
+++ Smith has moved its Portland, Oregon, headquarters to the Eastside Exchange building, consolidating product development, design, engineering, sales operations, e-commerce and marketing teams under one roof
+++ Austrian sports group Head has acquired British cycling apparel brand Le Col from Puma Private Equity, integrating the financially challenged road cycling apparel label into its Milan-based sports division +++
RETAIL & DISTRIBUTION
+++ Descente will open Casa Descente, a temporary hospitality and brand experience space in Cortina d’Ampezzo during the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games to showcase its heritage, technologies and elite performance apparel
+++ MTB brand Rocky Mountain is returning to the UK and Ireland through a new exclusive distribution agreement with Adaptive DCS
+++ Vallon has expanded its North American footprint by building a six-person sales team to drive brick-and-mortar growth with independent outdoor, optical and specialty retailers across the US and Canada +++
PRODUCT & MARKETING
+++ Vibram and UTMB World Series have extended their partnership, which has been in place since 2007, until 2029
+++ Technical apparel brand 2117 of Sweden has become a partner of Trentino-based tourism promotion body Visit Paganella
+++ Salomon has unveiled its 2026/27 S/LAB freeride lineup, introducing redesigned skis, boots, and bindings that deliver greater power, control and versatility in demanding big-mountain terrain
+++ Salomon has added 24-year-old Canadian freeride skier Cole Richardson to its global freeski team, bringing a big-mountain style shaped in the Rockies and showcased in films and creative projects
+++ Jeep has signed a multi-season deal as The Snow League’s global automotive partner, featuring on-site activations, vehicle showcases, a new “Biggest Air” Jeep Badge award, and Shaun White as a global brand ambassador
+++ Brandwave Marketing has been appointed lead UK PR agency for South Korean outdoors label Helinox
+++ Hoka has launched the Speedgoat 7, updating its flagship trail running shoe with enhanced cushioning, improved Vibram Megagrip traction and new features aimed at demanding, mixed-terrain performance
+++ Icelandic brand 66°North will outfit Iceland’s Olympic and Paralympic teams for the 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, marking both the brand’s 100th anniversary and a renewed expression of its heritage-driven, high-performance outerwear focus
+++ German endurance athlete Jonas Deichmann has become a brand ambassador for Joe Nimble, switching to the brand’s toe-freedom “Big Toe Power” footwear for his future extreme endurance projects
+++ Decathlon is recalling Simond avalanche probes with rope in 240 cm and 280 cm lengths after identifying a defect that could hinder full deployment and compromise safety, offering full refunds to affected customers +++
EXECUTIVE CHANGES
+++ British Cycling CEO Jon Dutton will leave the governing body in July 2026 to become chief executive of the British Olympic Association, with a successor search set to begin shortly
+++ Rapala VMC USA has reshuffled its leadership with multiple internal promotions across sales and product development and a new senior product hire, as former US President Marcus Twidale returns to Europe in a global brand role
+++ Cotton Incorporated has appointed Bev Sylvester as its first Chief Marketing Officer, tasking the former Repreve marketing leader with driving global demand for cotton across the value chain +++
LEGAL & INSTITUTIONAL
+++ Strava has begun using machine-learning models to automatically remove millions of improperly tagged or suspicious activities – including misclassified e-bike, vehicle-assisted and mixed-sport uploads – cleaning up leaderboards and restoring rankings for affected athletes +++
E-COMMERCE & DTC
+++ Amazon has made its generative-AI assistant Alexa+ available nationwide in the US, offering it free to Prime members, $19.99 per month to others, and a limited free web and app trial for non-Prime users +++
FINANCIAL REPORTING
+++ Google’s parent company, Alphabet, topped profit and revenue expectations in the latest quarter and signaled a sharp rise in 2026 capital spending to expand AI infrastructure, citing ongoing capacity and supply constraints +++
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