By Eric Smith
A healthy dose of straightforward mergers and acquisitions occurred in the sporting goods, outdoor and active lifestyle industries in 2018, but a handful of unconventional deals stole the spotlight.
Outside-the-box transactions—which garnered much more attention than traditional ones—included a Canadian retailer buying an iconic global brand, a company known primarily for golf equipment making a bold play in the outdoors world and a consortium of Chinese investors and a well-known active lifestyle name purchasing a multibillion-dollar sporting goods and outdoor giant.
Toss in a number of companies that ventured outside their traditional categories or geographies and 2018 was a dynamic one that kept the M&A teams at investment banks—not to mention SGB’s business writers—plenty busy.
Here’s a list of notable strategic and financial M&A deals in 2018 involving publicly traded and privately held companies. Transactions are listed in the month they were officially announced rather than when they closed. Click the headline to read more. Also, SGB published M&A monthly roundups beginning in March. Click the month for that period’s top deals (and look for the December roundup in early 2019).
December*
2018 is closing on a strong note, with a consortium involving Anta Sports, Lululemon founder Chip Wilson and other investors acquiring Amer Sports, Marquee Brands announcing it would acquire Dakine and Thule Group adding rooftop tent strength by acquiring Tepui Outdoors.
Chinese Investor Consortium Reaches Agreement To Acquire Amer Sports
Marquee Brands Acquires Dakine
Thule Group Acquires Rooftop Tent Maker Tepui Outdoors
YFM Equity Partners Sells Stake In Gill Marine
Genesco Agrees To Sell Lids To Fanzz
Clean Bottle Acquired By Investment Firm
*Includes deals announced through Dec. 25
November
Two large acquisitions in the outdoor space bookended November—Canada Goose bought Baffin to kick off the month and Callaway bought Jack Wolfskin to close it—while a flurry of M&A activity occurred in the days between.
Canada Goose Steps Into Footwear With Acquisition of Baffin
Callaway Golf Company To Acquire Jack Wolfskin
BSN Sports Acquires B&H Sports In Grand Junction, CO
Logitech Ends Acquisition Negotiations With Plantronics
Endeavor Design Acquires Sandbox Helmets
Evo Enters Canada With Whistler Village Sports Acquisition
Clarus Enters Skincare Category With Asset Acquisition Of SKINourishment
Escalade Sports Acquires Victory Tailgate
Lew’s Holdings Acquires Southern Plastics
HydraPak Acquires Polar Bottle
Leatherman Tool Group To Sell Ledlenser
Newell Brands To Sell Pure Fishing To Sycamore Partners For $1.3 Billion
Digital Room Acquires Logo Sportswear
O2COOL Acquired By Maurice Sporting Goods
October
Acquisitions made by a fitness accessories company, a sporting goods retailer and a bike components manufacturer—each with vastly different track records of making deals—highlighted a busy month for M&A across the sporting goods, outdoor and active lifestyle industries.
Hibbett Sports To Acquire City Gear
Hayes Performance Systems Acquires Reynolds Cycling LLC
Caleres Announces Acquisition Of Vionic
DSW Reinvents Business Model With Camuto Group Acquisition
Xponential Fitness Acquires Pure Barre
Sports Tech Startup Prevent Biometrics Acquires X2 Biosystems
Huron Capital’s IQ Brands Acquires Wheel House Designs
DSW And Authentic Brands Group To Acquire Camuto Group
DTG2Go Acquires SSI Digital Print Services
Overload Golf Ventures Acquires Henry-Griffitts
BSN Sports Acquires Port Jeff Sporting Goods
Athletic Supply/Barcelona SG Acquires Three Team Dealers
VF Corp. To Sell Reef To The Rockport Group
September
Signs of the coming ski season were evident in many North American mountain towns as fall began, but ski area operators were especially active during the month as they expanded their empires.
Peak Resorts To Acquire Snow Time for $76 Million
Alterra Mountain Acquires Crystal Mountain Resort
JackRabbit Acquires Rhythm Running, to Open Two Stores
Founder Sport Group to Acquire Teamwork Athletic Apparel
Velocity Outdoor Acquires Ravin Crossbows
August
August got off to a strong start when Implus announced it would acquire Pro Performance Sports LLC, dba SKLZ, a provider of multisport athletic performance and skill development training products.
Charlesbank Capital Acquires Rockport; Gregg Ribatt Becomes CEO
Next Level Apparel Acquired by Private Equity Firm
Camping World Agrees to Acquire Holiday Hour RV in Illinois
Code Green Apparel Agrees to Acquire Zoombang Companies
Malibu Boats Acquires Pursuit Boats
Superflex Rebrands As Seismic, Acquires Assets of Lumo Bodytech
GSM Outdoors Acquires New Archery Products
AstroTurf Acquires Nagle Athletic Surfaces
Audax Private Equity Acquires Revolution Dancewear
Alta Gracia Acquired by Seasoned Team
July
July was quiet for M&A activity in the outdoor and active lifestyle space, but one noteworthy deal was Exxel Outdoors—parent of such brands as Kelty, Sierra Designs, Slumberjack, Wenzel and Ultimate Direction—adding Los Angeles, CA-based luxury bag maker Hex to its portfolio. The owners of both companies spoke exclusively with SGB about the deal.
SGB Exclusive: Exxel Outdoors’ Acquisition of Hex Hits All the Right Notes
Camping World to Acquire Russ Dean RV
Mammut Acquires Digital Outdoor Platform Mountain Hub
Accell Group Fully Acquires Velosophy
North Pole Engineering Acquires the Wahoo GEM Product Line
Caleres Acquires Majority Stake in Blowfish Malibu
Huckberry Acquires Upscale Surf Brand Wellen
Gordon Brothers Acquires British Streetwear Brand Bench
Boot Barn Acquires Two-Store Boot Chain In Tulsa
June
Summer was an odd time to discuss what was happening at North American ski areas, but the escalating “arms race” between megaresort operators Vail Resorts Inc. and Alterra Mountain Co. was among the hottest M&A developments in June.
Vail Resorts to Acquire Four Ski Resorts
Alterra Acquires Solitude Mountain Resort
Dorel Sports Sells Sugoi And Sombrio To Louis Garneau Sports
Winnebago Acquires Chris-Craft
Varsity Brands to be Acquired by Bain Capital
Authentic Brands Group Acquires Nine West
Brunswick To Acquire Power Products’ Global Marine & Mobile Business
BSN Sports Acquires Kelly’s Sports
Dassault Systèmes Acquires Majority Stake In Centric Software
Differential Brands Group to Acquire Majority Of North American Division Of Global Brands Group
Flip Flop Shops Acquired By Bearpaw Parent
Gracedbygrit Acquired By Hylete
Peloton Acquires Neurotic Media
Rogue Fitness Acquires OSO Barbell
May
Although May was a relatively slow month for mergers and acquisitions activity in the outdoor and active lifestyle space, a few eye-opening transactions dominated headlines because they fell outside the scope of traditional deals, most notably retailer Canadian Tire agreeing to acquire Helly Hansen.
Canadian Tire Agrees To Acquire Helly Hansen
Ellett Brothers To Buy AcuSport In Asset Sale
Fireman Capital Acquires Largest Anytime Fitness Franchisee
T-H Marine Acquires Blue Water LED Assets
TSC Apparel Acquires Thinc Actionwear
Upventur Acquires Outdoor Adventure App Yonder
April
April was relatively quiet with fewer notable deals in the sporting goods, outdoor and lifestyle brand verticals, but some large companies such as Columbia, Nike and Amer acquired growth while some brands such as Volcom were put on the market.
Columbia Sportswear To Acquire Remaining Interest In China Joint Venture
Nike Acquires Israeli Computer Company
Amer Sports Acquires Peak Performance
Camping World Acquires Rock/Creek Outfitters
Implus Acquires Winter Traction Brand Stabil
Boot Barn Acquires Three-Store Boot Chain In Texas
SurfStitch Acquired By Alceon Group
Mainstream Holdings Buys Hawk Group
Unifi To Acquire National Spinning’s Dyed Yarn Unit
Camping World To Acquire Cullum & Maxey Camping Center
Bon-Ton Stores Inc. In Discussions With Going-Concern Bidder
March
This was an especially busy month for active lifestyle brands, led by JD Sports’ acquisition of Finish Line. Other notable deals included Billabong-Boardriders, Kathmandu-Oboz, Pentland-Endura and Fenix Outdoor-Royal Robbins.
JD Sports Agrees To Acquire The Finish Line
Billabong Shareholders Approve Boardriders Acquisition
Oboz To Be Acquired By Kathmandu
Pentland Brands Acquires Endura
Fenix Outdoor Acquires Royal Robbins
Camping World To Acquire Dixie RV Superstore
Nike Acquires Data Analytics Leader Zodiac
Navajo Incorporated Acquires Maxx HD Sunglasses
Authentic Brands Group To Acquire Nautica
12 ReTech Acquires E-motion Apparel
Art Gun Acquires DTG2Go Business
ISA TanTec To Acquire Auburn Leather Lace
February
Two leading wearables companies—Fitbit Inc. and Garmin Ltd.—announced deals in February to headline a slow month for M&A.
Fitbit To Acquire Twine Health
Super Retail Group To Acquire Macpac
PickleballCentral.com Announces Acquisition Of PickleballTournaments.com
Mad Engine Acquires Mighty Fine
January
Camping World Holdings Inc. started off its acquisitive 2018 with the announcement that it planned to purchase Erehwon Mountain Outfitter, a Midwest specialty retailer of outdoor gear and apparel. Camping World went on to make six acquisitions during the year.
Camping World Agrees To Acquire Erehwon Mountain Outfitter
Asics Ventures Acquires AI Silk
Acushnet Acquires Links & Kings
Otis Technology Acquires Shooter’s Choice
BSN Sports Acquires Gulf Coast Athletic Supply In Texas
Photo courtesy Amer Sports
[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’]https://s.gravatar.com/avatar/dec6c8d990a5a173d9ae43e334e44145?s=80[/author_image] [author_info]Eric Smith is Senior Business Editor at SGB Media. Reach him at eric@sgbonline.com or 303-578-7008. Follow on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn.[/author_info] [/author]
