Strong parallels, respective strengths, bringing together marketing and distribution channels etc.
It’s been coming for a while so it ain’t a great surprise. Earlier today, the covers came off the sale of privately owned Rip Curl to camping retailer Kathmandu for $A350 million, a little over two hundred mill US.
The deal ends fifty years of continuous private ownership for a company founded in Torquay in 1969 by Doug Warbrick and Brian Singer, two wild gunslingers whose surf DNA allowed Rip Curl to thrive while Billabong and Quiksilver went public, soared, then sunk.
Kathmandu, if you’re wondering, sells outdoor gear, tents, chunky boots etc, and has stores in Australia, New Zealand and the UK.
In a statement, Doug and Brian said,
“We realise, Rip Curl, our baby has grown into an adult recognised all over the planet and we are proud that we have created one of the world’s great brands.”
According to Reuters, Rip Curl’s current CEO Michael Daly will stay in charge and report to Kathmandu CEO Xavier Simonet.
“There are strong parallels with both Rip Curl and Kathmandu. Bringing them together will build on our respective strengths across product, marketing and distribution channels,” said Daly. It will be a new world for all of us after 50 years of private ownership, and our entire crew would like to thank the Rip Curl Founders for everything they have done for surfing over the years.
In turn, Kathmandu’s CEO Xavier Simonet said “Rip Curl transforms Kathmandu into a highly complementary, seasonally balanced, global outdoor and action sports business. The combination will support the acceleration of our brands’ global expansion into new channels and markets. Sharing a focus on quality, innovation and sustainability, Kathmandu and Rip Curl make for a great cultural fit.”
The deal, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, works like this,
The transaction will be financed through a combination of a fully underwritten 1 for 4 pro-rata accelerated entitlement offer to raise NZ$145 million ($90.80 million) and a placement of about NZ$32 million of new Kathmandu shares to the founders and chief executive of Rip Curl, who will receive a part of the consideration in Kathmandu shares.
At eight am this morning, Torquay time, all Rip Curl employees were called into a meeting to discuss the implications etc. An hour later, they’re still in there.
More on that soon.
Is that a Backhand compliment? 🤣
Surf industry is booming
Fucken booming i tell ya what.
Who are these liars sayin its not?
Surfing could do with a good helping of camp.
Imagine Chloe getting really bitchy with Rosie. Oooh. How it would spice-up the pressers.
The search was a rip curl advertising campaign in the 90s. Surf travel (searching) had of course been happening since decades beforehand.
The search contests came later, starting with that unknown surf break st leu. Yep, that surf spot previously home to a comp sponsored by a yoghurt company.
Billabong meanwhile had held comps at gnaraloo years beforehand.
They can own the exposure of the wave in Mexico. It’s google earth that really fucked it though, as everyone looked for a granite headland in Mexico.
The rest of the comps didn’t really ruin any spots. Padang was well known, Peniche too. Puerto Rico had world titles there before rip curl even existed, and the comp in South America had shite waves. So yeah the wave at Mexico.
Believe they are still doing the Search ( and Destroy) campaign, even if they don’t have a contest, ”loose lips sink ships’, and I don’t know very many surfers or support crew who can keep a secret long……..word gets out……
I dunno Sam, how did you end up in the surf camp in Taiwan a few months ago? Loose lips sink ships eh?
Not a bad pitch for the Happy Lenses…
Well… could be worse with this Katmandu thing…
Nepal!!!
They sell their stuff on Seshday.com and at Marshall’s. I have bought a tent I’ll never use, some coffee maker thing I’ll never use, some sleeping bags I’ll never use, some…you get the point…
Was in Torquay this weekend…. All the employees were hungover as fck Sunday after the AFL finals…. What a Monday!
Used to my fav brand until…. Medina … Now this? Fck that… On to rusty. Who owns them now??
I never shopped much at Kathmandu because I think their products are often crappy. Yet I often buy Rip Curl gear because the quality is generally quite high. I am not sure KMD & RC are a good match.
Good for the RC boys to retire. The sale is obviously good enough for them at 9.2 times 2019 cash-flow. At least RC made AUS$37M in cash-flow in 2019. Phuk. How much do they pay their team? Mick $2M? Medina $3M? Owen & Wiko $1M each??? Alana $1M??? Nikki & Mason $250K each? 10M total???
Tragic news for North Korea slave labor factories
What is a “rip curl” anyways? Is that like when I get sucked up the face backwards over the falls? I’m gonna name my company a combination of random surf words: Barrel Interval Sunscreen. Gnar Leashplug Traction
At risk of answering a rhetorical question, rip curl was originally a model of surfboard made at torquay surf shop (I think it was called).
Back then a “rip curl” was a wave breaking alongside a rip. Makes more sense as a surfing brand name than a billabong (a lake) or quiksilver (mercury).
Sorry stance I missed your reference to Quik and the Toxic Element Hg no)80 on the Periodic Table .
Reading Bob Mctavish book “Stoked” there is a passage about him sending a board around 68 ( ? ) for Wayne Lynch to the guys (who formed Rip Curl ) and written on the stringer was Rip the Curl , tear , lacerate …. or something along those lines . Could have been worse they could have named it mercury ( a toxic element ) known by the laymen as quicksilver ?
Happy for the founders. Get out while you can still make a buck. Surf branded clothing is for Dinosaurs and Kooks . Wetsuits took a back seat long ago
Traction pads are the future.
Wetsuit dog collar & poopy bags.
fins are the futures
The videos were good though.
Can we keep Gabriel Medina? I like him very much.
Yes and it would also be a shame to lose the entertaining Mr Ho.
…You must be sure that the girl is pure for the Funky Cold Medina
Can thank every new resident here wearing a black Kathmandu puffy jacket.
Considering they could’ve got twice the price more than 10 years ago and then more than doubled that in property since, they’ve done quite poorly with this sale.
On the other hand Kathmandu now has another wedge of lemon on their overextended plates that will leave a longer-term sour note on their palate…
Kind of irrelevant though right? More money than they could ever need. Surf/Snowboard wherever you want everyday…staying in beautiful accom. and still leave a legacy for kids/charities etc. Sounds pretty good….
No doubt there’s debt to payoff. Taxes and other shareholders.
He reads the journal with his beefnbear
Isn’t Ross Clarke Jones sponsored by quiksilver?
Ripmandu
Kathmacurl
I see perfect synergy to take a share of Patagonias dominance of the Virtue Signalling Activist market