MacNeill Pride Group (MPG), a designer and manufacturer of sporting goods and related products, has acquired Outdoor Recreation Company of America (ORCA), a supplier of coolers, drinkware and other outdoor accessories. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
ORCA will continue to operate from its Nashville, TN, headquarters. Founded in 2012, its product line includes hard-sided coolers, soft-sided backpack style coolers and a full line of stainless steel drinkware. ORCA consistently outranks competitors in cooler ice-retention tests and customer satisfaction and holds more licenses than any cooler brand with over 80 NCAA teams, 32 NFL teams, 30 MLB teams, and 30 NHL teams.
ORCA joins a portfolio that includes PrideSports, maker of cleats, studs and spikes for multi-sports under the CHAMP and Softspikes brands; Pride Manufacturing Company LLC, which creates engineered wood products such as golf tees, cigar tips and toys; and MacNeill Engineering, which designs, manufactures and tests footwear components.
“The acquisition of ORCA is a natural addition to our company as we continue to expand into new, yet complementary, markets,” said Joe Zeller, CEO of MPG. “This as an attractive opportunity to extend into the lifestyle product market where we have strong existing relationships with sporting goods retailers – both in the US and abroad – that will be beneficial to increase distribution and sales of ORCA products.”
Joe Henderson, president and COO of MPG, said: “All of our brands are known for innovation and we look forward to applying this to ORCA as we aggressively grow the brand in the future through the introduction of new products and other initiatives.”
Cliff Walker, the founder of ORCA, also expressed enthusiasm for the future of the brand. “The backing of MacNeill Pride Group and their deep retail relationships around the globe positions our business for exceptional growth with the products and licenses we have in place,” he says Walker.
MPG will debut the ORCA brand at the 2020 PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, FL later this month.
