With several rumors circulating, The Lafuma Group made an announcement putting much speculation to rest. Lafuma and Oxbow, the French Surf and Snowboard Company, are in takeover discussions. Shares for both groups have been suspended from trading until an announcement has been communicated in the course of the next week that will specify if an agreement is reached and details of the proposed takeover.
When shares were halted, Lafuma was trading at 66.45 while Oxbow was at 9.80.
If a deal goes through, the combined company will have roughly 245 million ($315 mm) in annual sales, based on 2004 year-end results. The impact of the Oxbow business on Lafumas U.S. subsidiary is not entirely clear. Oxbow currently does about 30% of their business outside of France, not including licensing revenues. The company has no current presence in the U.S., but with a solid Lafuma infrastructure taking shape, we could see the Oxbow brand arriving on U.S. soil again.
Oxbow had a brief life in the U.S. when XDogs held the license in 2001 and built a sales force for the brand. Since that time no news has emerged from the company.
