What we really like is that the business was founded by, and continues to be led by a entrepreneurial and dynamic duo, Andy Laats and Chad DiNenna. Andy founded the business shortly after picking up his MBA at Stanford from the ground up, partnered by Chad. They determined that the action sports sector didn’t have a watch brand clearly identified with folks clearly passionate about surfing, skating and snowboarding.
It would appear that TCP has their priorities straight, right?
The crew at Chasing Monsters captured the last big Mavericks swell with some of the most amazingly super-slow motion footage we’ve seen in a while. And having Skindog as a guide only makes it better.
The world famous Carlsbad Gap was torn down yesterday Thursday, February 23, 2012 to make room for renovations on the campus of Carlsbad High School in Carlsbad, California. We can still see Kris Markovich hitting that thing in our mind’s eye. It’s nice to see that workers showed respect and used a monster-sized excavator to remove the historic gap because it wasn’t going down easy. Follow the jump for the ON Video history Bridging The Gap. [click to continue…]
Timothy Robert Baker, a 24-year-old snowboarder from Salt Lake City, Utah died Thursday, February 23, 2012 after being buried in an avalanche in Dutch Canyon area just outside the boundaries of The Canyons ski resort, according to a story in the Salt Lake City Tribune.
Baker was riding his snowboard . . . near the Ninety-Nine 90 Express lift when he triggered the avalanche at about 3 p.m., said Summit County sheriff’s Sgt. Ron Bridge. . . “His friends were on the side watching him go across the mountain,” Bridge said. . . The snow slab started to shift underneath a cliff where unstable snow pellets had pooled, according to the Utah Avalanche Center. Baker was swept down the mountain into Dutch Draw, a basin to the southeast of the resort.
According to the story neither Baker nor his friends were equipped with avalanche transceivers. Our thoughts are with Baker’s family and friends.
Private equity firm TPG Capital’s offer for Billabong is outrageously low compared to previous fashion label buyouts according to a story in Businessweek.
Excluding extraordinary items, analysts now estimate Billabong will earn A$64.5 million in the year ending June 2012, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. TPG’s offer is worth almost 12 times that forecast, compared with the median bid of 24 times profit for takeovers of apparel makers greater than $500 million in the U.S., western Europe, and developed markets in the Asia-Pacific region, the data show.
In other words, TPG is offering half the average multiple for Billabong. In its analysis Businessweek questions what exactly TPG knows about the company that would cause it to make such a low offer. Are things that much worse than they appear? Or is TPG just out trolling for bargains?
For an in-depth look at the continuing Billabong situation, click the link and read the story. Or check out the Sydney Morning Herald’s piece A Tragedy of Errors.
We’re not going to say much about this Polar Skate Co. promo video from Klez Motion Pictures International other than we’re always suckers for a Devo song. . .
Thanks to the severe financial trouble Billabong has been wallowing in lately the company has decided to cut their J-Bay prize money and drop the event from the World Championship Tour to an ASP 6-Star event.
“The change in event status follows a broader review in which we are seeking to identify cost savings throughout the business.” Billabong said in a statement. “By retaining an event at Jeffreys Bay, it now provides two qualifying events back to back in the South African region. The move to an ASP 6-Star also opens the event up to South Africa’s aspiring pro surfers for the first time in 20 years and ensures continuity of the event for the local businesses in Jeffreys Bay.”
Sure, that’s nice and all, but the truth is the ASP World Championship Tour is now down to 10 events. Billabong, however, still has their Rio, Teahupoo, and Pipeline events on the calendar. For the official word from the ASP, follow the jump. [click to continue…]
We say this every year, but it’s hard to believe the ASP winter break is over and we’re already staring down the barrel of the 2012 ASP World Title Season with the Quiksilver Pro Gold Coast waiting period beginning Saturday, February 25, 2012 and the 2012 ASP awards banquet last night.
The ASP would like everything to know that Joel Parkinson and Jordy Smith are ready to chase down the title, so, for that matter is Kelly Slater.
“I had some really good waves at home and I’ve been going to J-Bay a lot to work on my boards for Snapper,” Jordy Smith said. “If a board doesn’t go good there it’s not going to work anywhere. It’s such a good wave that you can stand up and feel every little bump in your boards. I’ve been testing fins as well, seeing which fins work with what boards. I think in my first couple of years I lost some heats because I wasn’t that dialed in with my equipment, so I’m just working on eliminating that. I’ve also been staying fit with some training.”
Follow the jump for the official word from the ASP including a complete list of award winners from last night banquet. [click to continue…]
This video was apparently designed to show off the StreetStik electric off-road skateboard, but it’s really all about sad little Esther — a girl forced to ride an electric skateboard round and round in a park wearing only a pink bikini.
Over the years Newport Beach, California has become a breeding ground for jacked up rolling toys of all kinds. Time to add the Surf Skate to the list. It’s a skateboard with a 360 degree rotational front truck set up that reportedly allows skateboarders to ride just like surfers. Okay. . .
Deal Journal Australia interviewed Trilantic Capital Partners‘ partner Charlie Moore regarding the fund’s new investment in the Nixon brand and asked him why they would partner up with management and Billabong. Among other things Moore said this:
