Columbia Sportswear Company will acquire the Pacific Trail group of brands. The transaction is expected to close on March 30, 2006. The acquisition is the result of the March 29, 2006 auction in bankruptcy court of specified assets of Pacific Trail, Inc. and London Fog Group, Inc., where Columbia was determined to be the winning bidder for consideration of $20.4 million cash plus the assumption of certain liabilities.
Established in 1945 in Seattle, Washington, Pacific Trail manufactures and sells products to retailers nationwide. The Pacific Trail business includes the Pacific Trail outerwear and sportswear brand, the Towne® outerwear and rainwear brand, the Pac Tec high-performance outerwear brand, the Black Dot Clothing surfboard apparel brand, and the Moonstone mountain equipment brand.
“With the acquisition of Pacific Trail, we continue to strengthen our portfolio of authentic, outdoor brands,” said Tim Boyle, President and CEO of Columbia Sportswear. “We are particularly enthusiastic about the opportunity to leverage our design and capital strengths to expand the growth opportunities for Pacific Trail products in distribution channels that Columbia has not yet developed.”
Grant D. Prentice, Vice President Global Outerwear Integration at Columbia, will be responsible for interim management of the Pacific Trail brands.
