VF Corp. and Altamont Capital Partners on Monday confirmed that they submitted a buyout offer for Billabong that values the Australian surf company at about $1.16 a share, or $556 million. Earlier in the day, Billabong said it received the offer from VF.
VF is reportedly seeking to acquire the Billabong brand, while Altamont wants
Billabong’s other brands and related assets. Its other brands include
Element, Von Zipper, Honolua Surf Company, Kustom, Palmers Surf, Xcel,
Tigerlily, Sector 9, DaKine and RVCA. It also owns the West 49 retail
chain in Canada.
The VF offer matches a bid by private equity firm Sycamore Parnters and former director Paul Naude. VF said Billabong agreed to allow the firms to conduct due diligence to evaluate its business.
Billabong is giving both the VF group and the Sycamore group the right to conduct due diligence to get a better understanding of its value. The company said that it will be evaluating the offers over an approximately six week period to see if it can secure a bid “at a price and on terms that the board would recommend.”
