Rumor: Authentic Brands Group snags Quiksilver, Billabong parent company Boardriders adding iconic logos to family including Izod, Juicy Couture and the likeness of Elvis Presley!

The Stone too!

What a time to be alive and part of this surf industry we all call home. Oh, you may not like it. You may grunt and growl “Industry? I ain’t no part of no industry, man. I surf for pure reasons.” Only that is simply naive chatter. You, me, Sam Waters, we’re all the same. Cogs in the machine and on that note an exciting new rumor is percolating.

You certainly recall, weeks ago, when whispers grew to loud to ignore that VF, parent company to Vans, Supreme, JanSport was set to acquire Boardriders, home to Billabong, Quiksilver.

Impeccable source BeachGrit penned at the time, “Dreams do come true, as they say, and the acquisition by one of the world’s largest apparel, footwear and accessories companies, consolidates VF Corp, which also owns the canvas shoe company Vans, as the hub around which surf fashion now revolves.”

Alas, that dream was but a wisp of tropical air, dissipated by colder fronts from the east.

A new hot rumor, though, has floated and here we have Authentic Brands Group grabbing ahold of the iconic Mountain and Wave, Stagnant Pool and folding them into a robust house that includes Izod, Neil Lane, the licensing rights to Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Muhammad Ali and many other brands plus personalities.

Oh, also Volcom.

The Stone.

Authentic Brands Group, headquartered in New York City, was founded by Canadian Jamie Salter in 2010 after he dabbled in the snowboard industry. The company went on an early tear, purchasing Juicy Couture plus image and marketing rights for notable names including the aforementioned Presley, Monroe, Ali plus Shaq O’Neill and Dr. J. In total, some 50 brands are now owned raking in some $22.5 billion a year.

Pop that bottle of vintage Champagne you have been saving to celebrate, if the rumor proves true.