Blackstone Group LP is nearing an agreement to acquire the German outdoor gear maker Jack Wolfskin GmbH & Co. KGaA for about $1 billion, according to two separate wire reports.


Barclays Private Equity and Quadriga Capital have been shopping the company since last year, but pulled back on talks this spring when sales at Jack Wolfskin exceeded expectations.  On Friday, Reuters quoted an unidentified Quadriga executive as confirming the talks and saying they could result in a deal as soon as the third quarter.

 

Jack Wolfskin is the dominant outdoor brand in Germany, but is not distributed in the United States and has relatively little distribution outside of Germany.