Billabong International Limited reached agreement to acquire the Southern California surf retailer Becker Surf and Sport. The acquisition includes Becker's five brick and mortar retail stores and the www.beckersurf.com online business, but does not include the Becker
Surfboards arm of the business.
Billabong North America president, Paul Naude, said Becker is an iconic surf retailer and holds a distinguished place in the surf industry.
“Becker is a name that has been synonymous with surf since the 1970s and, as both a brand and a retailer, it has helped shape Californian surf culture,” said Naude. “Billabong looks forward to preserving the Becker heritage and growing the specialty boardsports retail channel to ensure premium brands can continue to deliver an authentic experience to the end consumer.”
Dave Hollander, co-founder and president of Becker, said Billabong and Becker had a mutual respect for one another's place in the industry and a shared vision about the future of surf retailing. “Paul and I have been friends for years and we have always discussed the future of the industry and boardsports retailing and have a common goal to ensure specialty retail remains intact,” he said. “We were looking for a strong partner to take the Becker brand to the next level and Billabong is a perfect fit.
“Billabong, through Paul, understood that we wanted to keep the surfboard name and manufacturing. They understood how important it was to keep that part of our heritage in the families that have owned it for 30 years. That was a big deal for us and few others would have understood the dynamics of this in relation to the big Becker picture.”
Becker Surf and Sport and the online business will both continue to operate as multi-branded retailers. The acquisition price was not disclosed.
