A year after taking $200 million in private equity from Blackstone, Crocs Inc named one of investment group's two Crocs directors as its CEO.
CROX announced that Blackstone Senior Advisor Gregg Ribatt, who has represented Blackstone on the Croc's board since January, will take the reins next month as Crocs' third CEO since 2009. The appointment comes a year after Blackstone invested $200 million in Crocs securities that can be converted to a 13 percent stake in the company.
CROX President Andrew Rees will report to Ribatt, who will continue to serve on the CROX board of directors.
“Crocs is an incredible brand with excellent growth potential,” said Ribatt. “In only 12 years, the team has built a billion-dollar global brand with distribution in more than 90 countries., and the Crocs brand continues to have meaningful growth potential in every market in which it competes.”
Since joining Crocs' board, Ribatt has been deeply involved in devising a turnaround strategy and recruiting the executives needed to execute it. Some of those efforts culminated in late October, when Crocs named new GMs for the Americas and Greater China and named existing employees as new SVPs for global business transformation and global product creation and merchandising.
CROX reported its third quarter operating income plunged 93.8 percent to $1.1 million after it took $17.4 million in restructuring and reorganization charges tied to its turnaround efforts. Strong growth in the Americas and Europe more than offset declines in Asia during the quarter to generate a 4.8 increase in revenue compared with the third quarter of 2013.
“Over the last nine months, the team has done an exceptional job of working to position the brand and company for the future,” Ribatt said. “My goal is to build on that strategic work while continuing to establish one of the best teams and cultures in the industry.”
Prior to joining Blackstone, Ribatt served as president and CEO of Collective Brands Performance & Lifestyle Group, which included the Saucony, Sperry Top-Sider, Keds and Stride Rite brands. He left that post in January, 2013 after Collective Brands sold the business for $1.32 billion. Prior to that he was president, CEO and a director at Stuart Weitzman Holdings, a luxury women's fashion footwear company. He also served as executive vice president and chief operating officer of Bennett Footwear Group, which, at the time, was one of the leading women's branded and private label fashion footwear companies in the U.S. He will be based in Crocs' new Global Commercial Center in suburban Boston, while also spending significant time at Crocs' headquarters in Niwot, CO., as well as working with Crocs employees and customers around the world.
