Jacobs said that he was motivated to sell because of several events. and Canada, and a small piece from the Asia/Australia region. Since Spyder is already distributed through many of the major European retailers, Jacobs sees sales growing through these accounts as the market consolidates.Īccording to Jacobs, the European market currently accounts for around 40% of Spyders sales with the remainder coming from the U.S. While Spyder is already widely distributed on the continent, Jacobs said that EU retailer consolidation is a few years behind the U.S. “We expect Spyder to be a $300 million dollar company in five years,” said Jacobs.Īnother opportunity for future growth is in Europe. Spyder is an edgy company, an action company.”Īs for growth plans, both Jacobs and Apax have big ideas for the brand. “Were not going to start making hiking shorts and compete with The North Face or Royal Robbins. “By Spring ∐7 at the latest, Spyder will enter into the summer markets,” he said. Jacobs said that they currently have $85 million in bookings for 2004.Īccording to Jacobs, “Growth is coming from a consolidation of retail in large corporations hands, and a falling away of marginal brands that dont make the cut with the large buyers Spyders retail accounts are buying deeper into the collections.”Īs far as future growth goes, Jacobs sees it coming from a combination of increased sales in their fall collection and an expansion into the summer market. Sales in 2002 were “just over $40 million,” and jumped to around $61 million last year. Jacobs told BOSS that Spyder has been growing at around 40% to 50% for the last few years. Jacobs is under contract to remain at the helm through 2010. However, Spyders founder and president, David Jacobs and his senior management team hold a “significant” minority interest in the company, while Apax holds the controlling stake. Spyders former equity investor, CHB Partners, no longer holds a stake in the company. When we find this we would expect a premium to be attached to it, and we are comfortable paying this premium.” Landau said, “It is very rare to find a company with this strong of a brand that is growing this rapidly. Spyder had reportedly already turned down a deal valued at 1x its estimated 2004 sales of $88 million or roughly 7x to 7.5x estimated EBITDA in the $12 million to $13 million range. With K2 snapping up two performance apparel companies, Marmot and Ex Officio, back-to-back, there has been a bit of a premium placed on companies in the soft-goods sector. “There was also a very strong management team in place that we felt comfortable backing Its our job to be familiar with the most interesting and exciting brands out there, especially if they are growing Like Spyder is.” “The company was growing very rapidly and systematically,” he said. Landau told BOSS that Spyder caught his eye for several reasons. Apax is also the investor behind the recent acquisition-fueled growth of the on-line bicycle retailer, Performance Inc. Under the leadership of partner David Landau, the company has closed several major deals, including the successful IPOs of Sunglass Hut and Lifetime Fitness. Recently, the North American retail and consumer division of Apax has been focusing on the sports and recreation industries. Apax is one of the largest private equity funds in the market, with over $12 billion in investment capital at its disposal. In a deal that has been in the works for several months, Apax Partners last week finalized its acquisition of Spyder Active Sports in a transaction valued at approximately $100 million, including assumption of debt.
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