MARKETING
+++ Aquasphere has been chosen as the official swim kit partner for the 2021 Keswick Mountain Festival, the event in England’s Lake District offering a mix of outdoor activities and live music, scheduled for September 10-12
+++ Scarpa is a new sponsor of the Monte Rosa SkyMarathon 2021, the international skyrunning competition that is scheduled to take place in the Italian Alps from June 19, with participants from 39 countries
+++ Rewoolution, the activewear brand owned by Italian group Reda, is supporting the Coschooling Forum 2021, an event organized by Biella Cresce and dedicated to the role of sport and physical activity in learning, on May 29
+++ Silva is the new supplier of headlamps and running vests for those athletes of the Norwegian Athletics Federation (NFIF) focusing on road running, downhill and ultra running, obstacle racing and track running +++
PRODUCT
+++ Gregory has launched this spring two new trekking backpacks, the Kalmia and the Katmai, featuring Polygiene Stays Fresh® technology, which is applied to the mesh that covers the entire suspension and is formulated to last for several years
+++ Suunto has launched its thinnest, smallest and most rugged watch ever, the Suunto 9 Peak with, among other features, up to 170 hours of GPS battery life and blood oxygen measurement +++
RETAIL
+++ U.S. retailer REI has announced plans to create a dedicated content division to produce films, podcasts and editorial programming in addition to its existing offerings of a quarterly magazine, storytelling podcast and many how-to videos +++
DISTRIBUTION
+++ Mystery Ranch, a U.S. supplier of technical backpacks for Special Forces, ski patrols, fire departments and other response groups, has announced its partnership with Sea to Summit as a new distributor in Australia +++
EXECUTIVE CHANGES
+++ Roger W. Ferguson Jr, former vice chairman of the board of governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System, former president and chief executive officer of TIAA, Steven A. Tananbaum distinguished fellow for international economics at the Council on Foreign Relations and a member of President Obama’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness and its predecessor, the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, has joined the board of directors of Swedish payment provider Klarna
+++ After 27 years at the helm, company founder Jeff Bezos plans to hand over the reins of Amazon on July 5 to Andy Jassy, who currently leads the company’s cloud computing division and has been with Amazon nearly as long as Bezos
+++ Johnson Outdoors has appointed Annie Zipfel, senior vice president and chief marketing officer of Andersen Corporation, and Paul Alexander, chief marketing and communications officer of Eastern Bank, to the company’s board of directors as independent directors, effective May 26 +++
CSR & SUSTAINABILITY
+++ Grundéns, a Swedish manufacturer of fishing apparel and footwear, has announced new eco-packaging that is fully compostable and will help reduce the omnipresent plastic poly bags
+++ The Lenzing Group reported that it has reached a new milestone on its path to climate-neutral production with the successful completion and commissioning of an air purification and sulfur recovery plant at its facility in Austria +++
CORPORATE AND M&A
+++ Kathmandu Holdings successfully completed the refinancing of its syndicated credit facilities with a three-year 300 million Australian dollar (€190.4m-$232.5m) facility consisting of a AS$100 million sustainability loan and a AS$200 million multi-option, resulting in, among other things, significant ongoing liquidity in the uncertain Covid-19 environment and including a pricing mechanism to incentivize improvements in key sustainability metrics
+++ Finnish fiber specialist Spinnova Ltd, a company that has developed a sustainable production technology for a transformative new textile fiber known as Spinnova® fiber, announced May 28 its intention to conduct an initial public offering and listing of its shares on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland +++
E-COMMERCE & DTC
+++ Trek Bicycle now offers retailers in the U.S. the ability to view in-store inventory on the brand’s website, trekbikes.com, through digital integration with Locally, a platform that connects online shoppers with nearby stores carrying the products they are looking for
+++ Sports Illustrated is partnering with Toronto-based company CatchCorner to create North America’s largest sports and recreation hub, CatchCorner By Sports Illustrated, an application for booking sports and activity-related venues and programs, available on the web or for download on iOS and Android devices +++
TRADE SHOWS & EVENTS
+++ The Bavarian state government indicated that starting Sept. 1, 2021, trade shows and events will once again be possible in Bavaria, increasing the chance that OutDoor by ISPO (Oct. 5-7) and IAA Mobility (Sept. 7-12) will actually take place as physical (or hybrid) events in Munich +++
LEGAL & INSTITUTIONAL
+++ The China Cotton Textile Association (CCTA) has elected Dong Kuiyong as its new chairman +++
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