Have you ever wanted to rule the stockmarket, buying while others flee? Here's your chance!
Three years ago, the US hedge funds Oaktree (and Centerbridge Partners) threw troubled surf co Billabong a lifeline with a $A386 million debt and equity package.
Billabong wore a $A265 million loan and the hedge funds took 38 percent of the company.
A couple of years later Quiksilver got, essentially, the same deal except Oaktree, using the the miracle of Chapter 11 to shrink Quik’s debt from almost a billion dollars to three hundred mill, privatised the iconic brand.
Did you ever think, during those glory days of Kelly Slater winning world title after world title, the Indies Trader mapping reefs around the world, Dane Reynolds hand-drawing mountain logos on his board and Craig Anderson inflating his little hams with Quiksilver denim, and Billabong churning out millionaires by the score in the once-depressed seaside town of Burleigh Heads, that the companies would, one day, be owned by multi-billion dollar American financiers?s
Anyway, as reported by the Australian Financial Review a few days ago and pointed out by an alert reader (GBP), the deal is coming back to haunt Billabong.
See, Oaktree and Centerbridge’s loan to Billabong comes with an 11.9 percent interest rate. Costs ’em thirty mill a year to service.
A few months ago, Billabong sold its profitable girl’s label Tiger Lily for sixty-mill to help bring down the massive debt.
Recently, shares hit a four-year low valuing the company at $145 million.
Of course, canny investors know to buy when others flee and to sell when the crowd flocks.
Is now the time to buy?
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“Billabong sold its profitable girl’s label Tiger Lily for sixty-mill to help bring down the massive debt.”
IVE NEVER EVEN HEARD OF TIGER LILY. HOW DOES THIS SHIT MAKE ANY SENSE
Big In Australia, have their own stores etc
By the look of your Sharpeye ad currently to my right and left they have a billion riders i’ve never heard of. How much do they pay you to advertise? I’ll base my decision on how much Billabong isn’t worth based on Sharpeye’s online marketing budget.
yeah, but if its a standard affiliate marketing arrangement, 10% of nothing is what? its like on-demand publishing.
Apparatentlg bacon cheese fries will be the newest experiment at Mickey D’s. Leave to Ronald McDonald to keep it real, yo.
How much are they paying Freestone again? I think I’ll sit this one out lads…
Why in Laird’s name would you invest in surf? Ostrich farms and lefthanded screw drivers are the go!
won’t be long before japanese fisherman are making fishing nets from outerknown clothes.
When Hemingway was asked how he went broke, he said, “Slowly at first, and then all at once.” No shit.
But I think all if surfing is broke. Every surf pro I know is broke, Every surfer who wants to be a pro is broke. The surf schmata companies are broke, the board shapers are broke, the parents of groms who want to be pros are really fucking broke. I’m going broke. Is surfing over priced or overrated?
K2 skis is also for sale, by the way…
Remember when Timmy Curran was repping tha K to tha 2???
Nah, nah, you just gotta put all your money in Occy’s wave pool. That or the Webber wave.
I’m so broke I can’t even pay attention.
Taj is about as broke as Syria is paradise
Surfing is cheap. All you need is a board.
It’s just that surfers put waves before work. People who work have money, people who don’t are broke..
no they don’t
I work 2 days a week and I still have money to travel and surf.
Buying stocks on the way down is a losers game. It’s much better to look at stocks as they consistently hit a 52 week high. I would be more inclined to wait until after the inevitable bankruptcy and buy the newly reminted stock for a leaner company with a better chance to be profitable.
yeah, but you and how many automated trading platforms are set to buy where you’ve set them? gonna have to move a lot of money to get anywhere with safe shit like that.
Recently on a sojourn to the Sunny Coast, I spotted someone wearing a Billabong wettie. I hadn’t seen one in my home state of WA for nigh on 15years. Being in the market for new rubber I questioned the young lad on its impression. ‘Fucking terrible, overpriced shit’, was the answer. How did they lose they’re way so badly? I would’ve thought sponsoring Creed would have a fabulous ROI
You could have asked me. I’ve got a 20yr old Quikky wettie and a 5yr old ‘bong one. The 5yr old one has multiple cold water vents, while the 20yr old is going strong.
I can only imagine the pain of surfing through a Sunshine Coast winter with holes in your 2mm winter armour.
Perhaps more a reflection on changes in wetsuit manufacture over the last 20 years rather than Quick vs Bong? Nothing lasts anymore (sobs).
Are surfers that cheap now they can’t afford a few hundred dollars for a new suit every 5 years? New suits are constantly reinvented more stretchy, warmer and comfortable, but with that, you sacrifice the life of them. Old heavier glassed, high performance surfboards also last years longer than new lightly glassed ones but they are shit compared.
I’m a cheap arse because I’ve sacrificed a career for a lifestyle. I currently work about 3 hours a day, which isn’t enough for much really. On the plus side, just received a hefty power bill so new wetsuit is further down the line…
Look at Need essential wetsuits, 15 year olds who wash dishes one day per week can afford them.
Don’t. Ever. Buy. Bong. Wetsuits
No matter how cheap end of year they are
Went through a stage of only buying bodyboard brand wetties there for awhile. Figured I’d rather support the guys chasing slabs rather than the guys chasing fat pay cheques
Man, that’s alternative to the alternative. Postie mind blown.
moved
Bodyboarding wetsuit? What is this? I just learned something.
Now you tell me. It was a good buy at the time though, because somebody had price tagged it as a back zip number even though it was a chest zipper. Wasn’t sure if it was a scam for the tagger’s mate or just a screw up. Saved about $200 at the time.
Lesson I had to re-learn. Bought a top of the line Bong steamer end of last year, I was so giddy from the mad cash I’d saved off retail. Felt the gentle embrace of pinholes in the seams from the first surf, along with the sensation I was heavy as lead
Are Rip Curl and O’Neill still the best? Xcel? EBomb was the bomb back the day
XCEL = BILLABONG. Even though I know they are the same company, same factory, I like my Xcel suit. I also wouldn’t buy Billabong. I don’t know why, maybe it’s the name ‘Billabong’ wtf.
Builtitwrong
I bought one for a song at the end of the year. Wore it once, kept sinking because it was restricting my arms and legs. Now I’m hoping I can use it as a sweetener for some unsuspecting investor to buy my Bong stocks.
You get these valuable stocks, plus a hardly used top of the line wetsuit!!
As a canny investor I advise BUY*
*The advice provided is general advice only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this advice you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs
Does this mean you’re selling?
If you’ve got the bitcoins, YES!