by The Editors on May 26, 2017
K2 Snowboards, Ride Snowboards, and the rest of the Newell Brands winter sports businesses have a new owner. This time they’ve been snagged by New York based private equity firm Kohlberg & Company for a reported $240 million. From the press release:
Net sales for the divested business were approximately $330 million during 2016 and annual adjusted EBITDA for the divested business is approximately $25 million. The transaction is expected to close late in the second quarter or early in the third quarter of 2017, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approval.
Not much to see here. Kohlberg is just another multi-billion dollar PE group that buys relatively boring companies and creates a quality return for their investors. We can’t even make any Rubbermaid jokes this time around. Other brands sold include Volkl, Marker, Dalbello, Madshus, Line, Full Tilt, Atlas, Tubbs, and BCA. For the official release, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on May 24, 2017
The Vans Park Series returns to Malmö, Sweden’s Kroksbäck Skatepark this weekend and you can watch it all live online.
VPS Men’s Pro Tour event semis and finals will be broadcast live on Saturday, May 27 as VPS Select Pros like Pedro Barros, Raven Tershy, Ishod Wair and current World Champion Alex Sorgente battle it out against top qualifying Men’s Pro Tour challengers like Tom Schaar, Murilo Peres, Willy Lara and more in the third stop on the road to Shanghai, China, park terrain skateboarding’s official VPS World Championships on September 23, 2017.
This is becoming one of our favorite skate contests on the web because we just can’t get enough of announcers Chris Cote and Neal Hendrix. Nope we can’t. For all the details on the Vans Park Series, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on May 22, 2017
Bent Metal Binding Works is proud to announce the addition of Norwegian creative master shred Fredrik Perry to the BMBW team! What better way to celebrate than the premiere of Freddy’s latest audio visual endeavor Benchpress the movie. You probably should just watch it even though it’s pretty much summer and we’re glazed on watching shred footage in general. But sure, go ahead.
by The Editors on May 22, 2017
Australian retailer SurfStitch (formerly partially owned by Billabong) is expecting its losses to double this year, according to a story on Sky News. In what has been one piece of bad news after another, the company will also be closing their US office a.k.a Swell.com.
SurfStitch on Monday announced that weak apparel and footwear sales in its key markets, particularly in the UK, will drag it deeper into the red than the $5 million-$6.5 million loss it had forecast in February. . . The company now expects a loss of between $10.5 million and $11.5 million for its 2017 financial year.
Guess the suits haven’t been able to turn the retailer around like they’d hoped.
[Link: Sky News]
by The Editors on May 22, 2017
The 2017 Street League Skateboarding season kicked off last weekend in Barcelona, Spain with the third annual SLS Nike SB Pro Open and in no real surprise Nyjah Huston edged Shane O’Neill to take the title.
Hitting all obstacles on the course, Nike SB Pro Nyjah Huston was performing as stong as ever, earning a score of 8.7 with a Backside 5.0 Grind along the round flat bar and into the small quarterpipe, a 360 Flip over the wedge gap, a Kickflip Backside Disaster on the quarterpipe, a Nosegrind Revert along the round flat bar and back to a Crooked Grind along the same, a Backside 180 Nosegrind on the volcano ledge, a perfect Backside 360 Kickflip over the wedge gap, and a Switch Nollie Nosegrind down the handrail.
In other news, Yuto Horigome and Dashawn Jordan are now on the 2017 SLS Nike SB World Tour. Congrats to Dashawn, he’s been hard at it for awhile now. For all the details on Barcelona as well as news and dates for the rest of the tour, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on May 17, 2017
Shaun White and former Bad Things drummer Lena Zawaideh have finally settled their differences without going to court according to a story in USA Today.
Zawaideh first sued White and his company in May 2016, alleging breach of contract for lack of payment of her $3,750 monthly retainer from September 2013 until August 2014. The original lawsuit didn’t contain any sexual harassment allegations. . . She then switched attorneys and filed an amended complaint in August that added the sexual harassment claims in detail with screen shots of alleged text messages from White attached as exhibits. It sought punitive and compensatory damages, including lost wages.
When the suit was filed last August, Shaun said he would defend against the charges “vigorously in court,” apparently, he changed his mind. No details were released on exactly what the settlement was, but we’re guessing Zawaideh got money in exchange for dropping her case. Isn’t that how it usually works?
[Link: USA Today]
by The Editors on May 16, 2017
Davis Allen Cripe (pictured right) was a 16-year-old high school student who died in April 2017 from what Richland County, S.C. Coroner Gary Watts is calling a “caffeine induced cardiac event” after drinking “a large Diet Mountain Dew, a cafe latte from McDonald’s and an energy drink over the course of about two hours,” according to a story in the Sacramento Bee. In other words, he didn’t do anything that the action sports industrial complex isn’t encouraging kids to do all the time.
Cripe’s father explained it like this:
“It wasn’t a car crash that took his life,” he said of his son. “Instead, it was an energy drink. Parents, please talk to your kids about these energy drinks. And teenagers and students: please stop buying them.”
No one mentioned exactly which energy drink it was, likely out of fear of getting sued, but we could probably guess. We just wonder when the action sports industry is going to wake up and stop selling off their lifestyles and athletes to promote drinks that can be straight up harmful to kids. Anyone?
[Link: Sacramento Bee]
by The Editors on May 15, 2017
Kelly Slater reportedly just snapped up another house on the North Shore. This $7.8 million gem is located in Haliewa, according to a story in the Pacific Business News.
The 7-bedroom, 5-bathroom estate is located at 61-785 Papailoa Road, and includes one building and pool situated on 23,889-square feet of land. The ocean-front land was last purchased in 2000 for $1.85 million, and the property was built in 2001.
It’s not in Lemoore, California, but it looks like a very nice place to stay every now and again. Click here for all the photos.
[Link: Pacific Business News]
by The Editors on May 15, 2017
Roaring crowds filled the legendary Combi Pool arena as the 2017 Vans Pool Party capped off another dramatic skateboarding showdown last night to crown both Lance Mountain and Steve Caballero as this year’s Legends champions. Following a contentious stalemate final, head chief in charge Steve Van Doren settled the score, honoring both impressive performances and granting Caballero and Mountain a shared victory for their equal 85.33 result.
For all the official details, please follow the jump.
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by The Editors on May 15, 2017
Burton has partnered up with some of the best names in camping (Big Agnes, Yeti, Stanley) and created a one-stop shop for cool camp gear including tests, chairs, tables, sleeping bag, backpacks, and more. Click the link if you’re interested in getting ready for summer camping smooth and easy like.
[Link: Burton]
