Bushwalk Australia

http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/7366881 ... irm-macpac

Outdoor clothing company Macpac is reportedly up for sale.

Anumber of parties are reportedly interested in the company, which is nearly 58 per cent owned by Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron's Alp Sports.

They include several private equity companies and The Warehouse, according to the Australian Financial Review.

The company was expected to sell for between A$70 (NZ$75) million and A$75m, according to the AFR.

However, there were concerns among potential suitors about the "crowded nature of the adventure-wear industry and still challenging conditions" in the retail sector generally.

Like its rival Kathmandu, Macpac has its roots in Christchurch.

It was founded in the early 1970s by Bruce McIntyre, and sold to Mouton Noir in 2008.

Mouton Noir has connections to Cameron and bought Fairydown from her company Alp Sports in 2009.

Macpac would not confirm the report; however, Briscoe Group managing director Rod Duke said he could neither confirm nor deny that he was interested in making a bid.

Duke, who majority owns Briscoe homeware and Rebel Sports stores, recently made an unsuccessful takeover bid for Kathmandu.

I hate mergers. Once the founder goes, the ethos, originality and philosophy generally goes with it. However our society thrives on takeovers. That's how everyone makes lots of money and were we get monopolies. It's the worst feature of capitalism. Am I ranting and off topic? Ooops.

nz company the warehouse own torpedo7

ha!

blacksheep wrote:ha!

I was looking forward to your comment, Cam!

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Exit and pay cheque time for the owners. Agree, the flavour would change with the exit.

maybe we should all chip something in towards buying them

don't be foolish.

mr green smiley is a dick head smile..

then mr green is a clever-dick(head)
(I haven't been here for a while, since when can we say *&^%$#@!?)

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http://www.wildernessmag.co.nz/view/pag ... cpac-sale/

Jan Cameron looking to sell shares.

Private equity firms are reportedly expressing an interest in purchasing the iconic New Zealand outdoor equipment and apparel brand Macpac.

The Australian Financial Review reported in late September that Jan Cameron, the founder of Kathmandu, was looking to offload her 55 per cent stake in Macpac. That has since led the company to investigate a full sale of the business, which AFR said could be worth A$75m.

Macpac was tight-lipped on the potential sale, but a spokesperson did respond to Wilderness queries with this: “We are looking at bringing on new investors and are talking to a number of private equity groups through KPMG. Nothing definite yet, but the business has been performing exceptionally well so there's been plenty of investment interest.”

Perhaps Rod Duke, spurned by Kathmandu, might take an interest?

Possibly Jan Cameron wants the money to sort out some of her other business interests which have not gone well.

Lots of stories about her.......

FF

Most probably quite a canny move by Jan. The recent and continuing devaluation of the AU$, and the NZ$ to a lesser extent, is going to place rather intense pressure on the gross profit of Kathmandu (and most other retailers). Lets face it, you can't hike prices by 30+% overnight to cover currency movements and still sell product. It takes time for the market to accept the price rises necessary to maintain gross profit margins. Most retailers are currently eating into their margins while slowly raising prices. Buy now - it isn't going to get any better.

macpac isnt kathmandu, most of macpacs products are more technical and higher quality in design, theres no contest between their packs, tents and sleeping bags and some of their clothing.
they are more expensive to design and make and cost a lot, you dont sell as much of it and you dont make as much money out of it. It's a different model to kathmandu, although there are still some similarities in the way they operate.
generally if you wanted a higher quality item you'd go to macpac, if you were out to save a buck you'd go to kathmandu. more people are out to save a buck or dont realise the difference in quality of the products. trampers knew macpac made quality gear, non trampers often didnt.
yeah macpac have had hiccups in quality in some of their gear along the way and thats been discussed on the forum before.

Not, they aren't exactly the same, however which of these companies do you think would be a better investment- i.e.: which one can give a better return, either through growth, improvements (products/systems), is scaleable and needs the least continuing investment in systems, marketing, staff, plant (fit outs etc). I know this topic is in the equipment section, but the topic is about investment... If we put aside whose products you prefer, I think Kathmandu have been doing a very good job across the board recently that will pay real dividends, and they haven't depended on a small handful of products for their revenue, (therefore are less exposed to the same threat of a stronger business taking that segment over and severely affecting the whole business - i.e.: a UniQlo down jacket is a tough offer to beat if a company was depending on cheap down jackets sales as being significant part of the business). If one was interested in the middle market/vertically integrated retail business with roots in outdoor, I think I'd think about these things, not which brand has a better reputation for their heritage products...