HELSINKI, Finland (BRAIN)—Amer Sports, the Finnish owner of Mavic, will acquire women’s snowboard apparel brand Nikita as part of its priority to grow faster in soft goods.
Amer also owns Salomon, Wilson, Atomic, Arc’teryx, Precor and Suunto.
“Action Sports apparel is a large and dynamic market driven by young people who skate, surf and snowboard and the acquisition complements Amer Sports’ portfolio in action sports,” said Andy Towne, president of Amer Sports Apparel in a press release posted on Amer’s website. "With Salomon snowboards, Bonfire apparel and now, Nikita, we have a great opportunity to expand our presence in action sports, bring a broader range of exciting, authentic products to market and reach new consumer groups.
“Amer Sports Apparel category will bring benefits to Nikita as we can leverage the scale of our brands in design, sourcing and in go-to-market activities,” he added.
Nikita has annual sales of about 8 million euros, mostly originating in Europe and select markets in North America and Asia. It is based in Iceland and privately owned by individual and institutional shareholders.
Amer reported sales of 1.7 billion euros last year, the majority of which came from its winter and outdoor segment. Cycling sales were 106.4 million euros in 2010 and apparel sales were 156.6 million euros.
Amer shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Stock Exchange.
