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U.S. investor to buy Accell Group
The bicycle industry continues to boom and is therefore increasingly targeted by investors. Dutch Accell Group N.V. and a consortium led by U.S. financial investor KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts), which includes Accell’s major shareholder Teslin, announced today that a conditional agreement has been reached for a recommended public offer by ...
Selle Royal Group plans to list on the Milan Stock Exchange
Another bicycle company appears to be preparing its initial public offering. According to various media reports in Italy, bicycle saddle and component manufacturer Selle Royal S.p.A. (also known as Selle Royal Group) has announced plans to aim for the Milan Stock Exchange.
Review: Slide/OTS Winter trade show 2022
The British Snowsport Tradeshow happened in central England last week, on the Welsh border, to allow relatively easy travel for everyone to reach the event. Building on previous events, the exhibition had also combined with the Outdoor Industry Association (OIA), so those outdoor brands had a chance to demonstrate their ...
Deuter pushes ahead with climate strategy
Under the motto “Changing for the better means taking responsibility” – part of the Deuter Promise, which calls for 360-degree responsibility – German backpack and sleeping bag manufacturer Deuter is launching a new sustainability strategy. One of the six fields of action anchored within addresses climate protection – with the ...
Eastman to invest up to $1 billion in plastics recycling facility in France
French President Emmanuel Macron and Mark Costa, Eastman Chemical Company’s board chairman and CEO, jointly announced on Jan. 17 that the U.S.-based specialty materials company plans to invest up to $1 billion in a material-to-material molecular recycling facility in France. The facility would use Eastman’s polyester renewal technology to recycle ...
The first winners of the 2022 ISPO Awards
ISPO Group has announced the first winners of its revamped ISPO Awards. The modernized version of the award show, which – in its previous form – has been part of ISPO since 2011, will now be presented throughout the entire year and judged by a jury comprising members of the ...
GOA reports 29 percent growth at U.S. specialty independent outdoor retail in 2021
The independent U.S. retail organization Grassroots Outdoor Alliance (GOA) has released sales data showing a significant increase in holiday season sales and a record-breaking two-year sales increase. Compared to 2020, Grassroots members – currently, a total of 99 independent retailers across 196 locations – in the U.S. saw a 29 ...
It’s Great Out There Coalition calls for applications for 2022 grant program
The It’s Great Out There Coalition (IGOT), an international nonprofit registered in Brussels and set up and launched by the European Outdoor Group (EOG), has announced details of the first round of #itsgreatoutthere grants for 2022. This year, the coalition will again use its Outdoor Activity Days (OAD) model to ...
Kent Outdoors acquires Kona Bicycles
Since its beginnings just over 34 years ago, Vancouver, B.C.-based bicycle manufacturer Kona Bicycles says it has “evolved from a small business in the Pacific Northwest to a far-reaching global brand.” On Jan. 19, the Canadian company announced that it has joined U.S.-based Kent Outdoors (formerly Kent Watersports) “to compete ...
EOG prepares to present plans for 2022
While the public appetite for outdoor activities is increasing, the European Outdoor Group (EOG) is finalizing its 2022 program of collaborative projects to its members in the lead-up to the association’s Annual General Assembly next month. Reflecting, serving and promoting the entire value chain, work will focus on the major ...
South Korean outerwear manufacturer Kido expands to Bangladesh
South Korea-based technical outerwear manufacturer Kido Industrial announced a total investment of more than $36 million in new factories in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Of this amount, the company will invest $31.17 million to establish a new company, Kido Dhaka Company Co, Ltd. In addition, Kido recently acquired an existing garment factory ...
Jack Wolfskin with strategic repositioning aimed at global expansion, customer centricity and sustainability
Jack Wolfskin, the German manufacturer of outdoor apparel and equipment that has been part of U.S.-based golf outfitter Callaway Golf Company since January 2019, has unveiled a new strategic brand reset with its fall/winter 2022 collection. The central elements of this are the new claim “We Live to Discover,” as ...
Green awareness provides greater tailwind for bike stocks in 2021
2021 had it all: on the one hand, more lockdowns, virus variants, inflation, zero or negative interest rates, supply bottlenecks, political crises, trade and other wars, etc. On the other hand, 2021 experienced a world stock market that trudged steadily upward. This also gave our 2021 cycling stock some major ...
Outdoor and bike industry stocks rose by 3.0% in Q4
Our quarterly analysis of the outdoor stock market shows a 3.0 percent sequential increase in the average stock prices of 32 public companies primarily involved in the outdoor and bicycle sectors between Sept. 30 and Dec. 31, 2021. This came after increases for most of the same companies of 18.9 ...
Schwan-Stabilo acquires stake in footwear start-up Doghammer
The German Schwan-Stabilo group has taken a minority stake in Doghammer, a young outdoor footwear brand. The agreement was signed shortly before the end of 2021. Further details of the transaction were not disclosed. Doghammer was established in 2015 by Matthias Drexlmaier and Maximilian Hundhammer in Rosenheim in Bavaria. Since ...
Pierer Mobility records strongest growth with e-bikes
According to Austrian two-wheeler specialist Pierer Mobility AG, the 2021 financial year shone with new records – so much that the board raised its sales forecast even before the publication of the preliminary key data for 2021 on Feb. 1. Previously, the publicly listed company had communicated a sales forecast ...
MacNeill Pride Group rebrands as Gathr Outdoors
After acquiring several outdoor brands over the past two years, U.S.-based MacNeill Pride Group (MPG) quickly began to crystallize a growing commitment to outdoor sports and related activities. In addition to the acquisitions of the Orca, GCI Outdoor, Klymit and Rightline Gear brands, the appointment of CEO Keith Bornholtz and ...
U.S. retail and experience brand Evo acquires snowsports retail and rental chain Rhythm Japan
Rhythm Japan, a Japanese snowsports retail group established in Niseko in 2005 by two Australian snowsports professionals, has been 100 percent acquired by Seattle-based outdoor retail and experience brand Evo. Evo operates 9 stores in the U.S. and Canada, two All Together skateparks, as well as lodging and travel businesses, ...
Former Nike executive to become TNF’s new global brand president
VF Corp. has named Nicole Otto global brand president of its Denver, Colorado-based outdoor brand The North Face (TNF). Otto will succeed Steve Murray, who will be retiring. Murray had been promoted from president of Americas to global brand president of TNF in October 2020 as part of management structure ...
Amer Sports divests Suunto
Amer Sports revealed it has reached an agreement with Chinese technology company Liesheng to sell its Finnish brand Suunto, a manufacturer of sports watches, dive computers and precision instruments.
Alibaba tops Greenpeace’s environmental ranking among China’s e-com platforms
Greenpeace East Asia has ranked China’s largest e-commerce platforms based on their commitment to combating climate change, actions already taken, level of disclosure and steps taken to manage the marketplaces responsibly and sustainably. According to the climate activist group, Hangzhou-based e-commerce platform Alibaba, which last December pledged to become carbon ...
Helen of Troy raises outlook after Osprey acquisition, strong Q3 showing
Helen of Troy, the El Paso, Texas-based consumer goods company that owns outdoor drinkware brand Hydro Flask and Oxo and recently closed a deal to acquire backpack manufacturer Osprey Packs, raised its guidance for the full fiscal year to take into account that acquisition and after posting better-than-expected results in ...
Sport 2000 parent ANWR Group exits as shareholder of Bico
At the end of 2021, German bicycle purchasing group Bico Zweirad Marketing GmbH took over the 25.1 percent stake held by ANWR Group e.G. by mutual agreement. As a result, the ANWR Group – a community of independent retailers that is, among other things, the 100-percent parent company of the ...
Vista Outdoor ends 2021 with yet another acquisition
Minnesota-based Vista Outdoor has made its sixth acquisition in the current year with the takeover of Stone Glacier, a Bozeman, Montana-based brand founded in 2012 by Kurt Racicot that focuses on ultra-lightweight, high-performance hunting gear for backcountry use.
Grandson of Millet founder to buy Millet Mountain Group from Calida
In an announcement on Dec. 24, Calida Group said it has received a binding offer from Jean-Pierre Millet, together with Inspiring Sport Capital, to sell Millet Mountain Group, which includes the Millet and Lafuma Outdoor brands. Jean-Pierre Millet is an investor and grandson of the founder of the Millet brand. ...
Open Air Group acquires Aclima
Sweden’s Open Air Group (OAG) has announced the acquisition of Norway’s Aclima, a manufacturer of merino wool clothing “made in Europe.” Aclima is a third-generation family business specializing in merino wool workwear and outdoor clothing. The acquisition of Aclima is the first in the outdoor segment for OAG and also ...
EOCA members make record funding possible in 2021
The European Outdoor Conservation Association (EOCA) has reported that it was able to fund more projects in 2021 than ever before, thanks to the continued support of its members and exceptional fundraising efforts conducted in 2020 and 2021. In total, nearly €400,000 was allocated to 14 projects in 11 different ...
Tourism-related sporting goods retailers in Austria see winter season at risk
In the 2020/2021 winter season, tourism-related sporting goods retailers in Austria recorded sales losses of up to 95 percent. A study by SpEA (SportsEconAustria) commissioned by the Federal Committee for Trade in Fashion and Leisure Articles in the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKÖ) now shows that what was already feared ...
Glove specialist Hestra publishes first sustainability report
Swedish glove specialist Hestra has written its first sustainability report. In 36 pages published on its website in a few days, the company provides an overview of its performance and plans for the fiscal year ending April 2021. In 2020/21, Hestra undertook a project to gauge its stakeholders’ expectations on ...
Excellent financial year enables Accell to repay government Covid credit facility
Based on its sales and profit growth in 2021, Netherlands-based Accell Group N.V. will fully repay its “Go-C” facility issued during the Covid-19 pandemic before the end of the year. In this context, the Dutch company has also converted its existing revolving credit facility (“RCF”) from seasonal to full-year availability.
