RYU Apparel Inc. entered into an agreement to acquire Kosan Travel Company Ltd., a British Columbia-based travel apparel and accessories maker.
The purchase price for the transaction will be $4 million worth of common shares in the capital of RYU. Closing is subject to Kosan raising at least $175,000 in equity financing.
Cesare Fazari, CEO of RYU, stated, “We are excited at the prospect of having Kosan join the RYU family. We expect a big resurgence of travel in 2022 and intend to capitalize on the increased demand as consumers emerge from the pandemic. Whether it is heading out across the country or back out across the world, we believe Kosan’s functional travel apparel will be a hit with RYU customers and new customers alike. We also believe Kosan’s alignment with our message of RESPECT and its predominantly millennial female audience will augment our brand in a key market that we are focusing on.”
Kosan, which makes dresses, rain jackets and bags, was Co-founded by Joel Primus, who intends to remain as the CEO of Kosan in addition to assisting RYU’s leadership team and corporate objectives. Primus was the founder of Naked Underwear, establishing retail distribution at Holt Renfrew, Nordstrom, Hudson’s Bay, and Bloomingdales and brokering celebrity partnerships and up-listing the company to the Nasdaq. Kosan’s unaudited net sales for the year ended May 31, 2020 were CAD$944,147 with an achieved gross margin of 39 percent.
“Kosan was seeing impressive growth before the pandemic hit. With the travel market predicted to return bigger than ever, we hope that by joining up with RYU, we will get that traction back faster than we could on our own,” said Primus. “We are confident that RYU’s product development platform, distribution network, and marketing channels will enable us to scale growth, reduce cost structures, and exceed our goals for 2022.”
Photo courtesy Kosan Travel
