This article has been updated to correct inaccuracies. The author and TMF regret the error.
Shoe brands continue to be hot properties, it seems. Today, for instance, youth apparel maker and marketer Quiksilver (NYSE:ZQK) agreed to buy DC Shoes, maker of skate shoes, snowboard boots, apparel, and accessories.
Quiksilver will pay $56 million in cash, 1.6 million shares of stock, $10 million in funded debt, and the potential for another $57 million over the next four years tied to performance targets. The deal could total as much as $98 million before the performance payments, based on last night's closing price for Quiksilver shares.
A little back-of-the-napkin math can help us understand just how important DC Shoes is to Quiksilver. Management expects its new acquisition to boost EPS slightly this year and deliver $0.06 of EPS in fiscal 2005. Based on the current number of outstanding shares (plus the aforementioned 1.6 million), that translates to approximately $3.6 million in net income for 2005 and, presumably, a good deal less this year.
Based on the $98 million purchase price, Quiksilver is paying about 27 times those 2005 earnings for DC -- and even more based on 2004 earnings, which were not provided by the company but are likely to be minimal. By comparison, the company is currently trading at about 20 times the net income it recorded in the fiscal year ended Oct. 31.
But management might be forgiven for paying up for the privilege of adding a small, growing, profitable brand to its shoe stable. For one, the numbers it's acquiring are not immaterial: DC is said to have had $100 million in 2003 sales, which should fit nicely with Quiksilver's $975 million in fiscal 2003. For two, it appears Quiksilver has succeeded in bringing aboard (and hopes to assimilate) DC's management.
For three, DC and Quiksilver are both well-placed to capitalize from recent fashion trends driving youth toward surf, skate, and hip-hop inspired apparel and accessories -- if recent numbers from retailers like Pacific Sunwear of California (NASDAQ:PSUN) are any indication. Finally, take a look at the recent charts of Quiksilver, Deckers and Vans: Investors are clearly supporting these fashion brands, as all three have outperformed the S&P 500 (to different degrees) over the last 12 months.
A million things can go wrong with any acquisition, but strategically and financially this looks, at first blush, like a well-taken move by Quiksilver.
Fool contributorDave Marino-Nachison doesn't own Ugg boots or any of the companies in this story. He can be reached via email.
