It was an odd pairing anyway -- think Jeff Spicoli marrying Picabo Street -- but the decision by skate-and-surf retailer Quiksilver
Perhaps not as welcome is President Bernard Mariette's decision to resign and "pursue other interests," like potentially acquiring and running Rossignol. Investors have to hope that Quiksilver doesn't allow Mariette to acquire the ski company on the cheap.
The retailer is paying Mariette a princely amount in severance as he walks out the door, plus a guaranteed consulting contract if Quiksilver ever decides to pick up the phone and call him for advice. Otherwise, Mariette doesn't have to do a thing to make $2.9 million for the next year. Perhaps he could use that money to pay for Rossignol.
Quiksilver's acquisition of Rossignol seemed little more than a sop to help out Mariette family friend Laurent Boix-Vives, who at the time had a controlling 43% interest in the ski maker -- and 63% of the voting rights. The $320 million deal also gave Quiksilver $160 million in Rossignol's debt and a stake in golf outfitter Cleveland Golf.
The deal also occurred just as Rossignol was losing market share to rivals such as K2 (which Jarden
Despite the talk of all of the cross-branding opportunities the deal represented, the only real attractiveness Rossignol offered was the chance to splash the ski maker's name across sundry T-shirts and sweatshirts. Fortunately, if Quiksilver can sell the division -- to outsiders or to Mariette -- the branding opportunity will remain.
Quiksilver has signed up JPMorgan Chase
Snow-related weakness is not confined to Quiksilver. We've also seen related weather weakness at Zumiez
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