Benetton Group has agreed to sell its Nordica ski unit to Italian bootmaker Tecnica Group.
The move comes after months of speculation about suitors for the various sports brands under the Benetton Sportsystem umbrella. BSS announced last month that the sale of the Rollerblade division was to be sold to The Hockey Company, based in Quebec, Canada.
The Prince unit is still on the block. Head NV was the latest company mentioned as a possible Prince buyer. Head was also seen as vying for the Rollerblade and Nordica brands. Dave Haggerty, recently promoted to CEO over Heads U.S. business, was formerly General Manager of Princes North America business.
The AP is reporting that the price for Nordica’s sale will be set on Feb. 1 and will be defined after an estimate of Nordica’s assets by the end of the month, Benetton said in a statement. The brand alone was estimated to be valued at 38 million euros ($38 million). In addition, Benetton said it would acquire a 10 percent stake in Tecnica for 15 million euros ($15 million).
Benetton bought Nordica from Tecnica about 13 years ago. But sales at the division have slipped, falling an estimated 15% last year.
With the Nordica acquisition, Tecnica could nearly triple its annual sales. Tecnica had 44 million euros ($44 million) in sales in 2001 while Nordica had revenue of 84.4 million euros ($84.4 million), according to Benetton. The brand had posted annual sales of 278 billion lire ($225 million) in 1989 when Benetton purchased it from Tecnica.
