Outdoor Footwear Brand Columbia Acquisition Of Yoga Brand Prana

The outdoor footwear giant Columbia bought the Prana Living sportswear brand from Steelpoint capital and other shareholders at a price of US $190 million.

According to WWD, Prana will join Columbia group in the form of an independent sub card. The latter's subsidiary cards include Mountain Hardw (DW store) ear, Sorel and Montrail. Prana's flagship hot yoga dress will be a good complement to the existing product structure of Columbia.

Columbia's CEO, Tim Boyle said: "Prana is very consistent with the company's strategic development plan. We no longer rely on outdoor jacket to deal with cold weather type of clothing. We will have a very broad product line to balance the strategic goal of brand internationalization."

Although Columbia bought Prana wholly-owned, it still retained its original management, and Scott Kerslake continued to be CEO of Prana. Kerslake said: "Prana is a very dynamic young brand. We are committed to producing sportswear with a sense of design and functionality in a green and environmentally friendly way. Coupled with Columbia's strong financial strength, professional management skills and international sales platform, our brand will also rise to a new level of international development.

The purchase price of US $190 million is about 13 times that of Prana this year, EBITDA (interest tax depreciation and profit before amortization).

Prana's estimated turnover in 2014 is around us $100 million. After the completion of the merger, we expect to have US $55 million in sales this year on Columbia's financial statements. Columbia plans to use the cash available from the company to complete the transaction.

Founded in 1992, Prana mainly produces yoga and mountaineering clothes. In 2005, the founder sold the brand for $34 million 400 thousand to the apparel group Liz Claiborene (the parent company of Kate Spade). In 2008, Prana management joined hands with Steelpoint capital to repurchase the brand, the price was $36 million 500 thousand plus 4 million dollars based on performance contingent cash payment.

In addition to authorized dealers, Prana currently has 5 direct outlets and online sales platforms in the US region, but sales in North America account for only 5% of total sales.

According to Columbia, the acquisition will improve the group's annual performance. Columbia realized net sales income of US $424 million in the first quarter of this year, an increase of 21.8% over the same period last year, and net profit of US $22 million 300 thousand, more than double that of the same period last year.