Just last year, a group of financial investors took over Jack Wolfskin - now the outdoor brand is changing ownership again. The Californian golf supplier Callaway Golf pays for the company from the Hessian Idstein converted 418 million euros, said the two companies. Jack Wolfskin sells clothing and shoes for hiking, cycling and climbing.
"The transaction is an important step for our brand and we are very pleased to have Callaway as a strategic and long-term owner," said Jack Wolfskin CEO Melody Harris-Jensbach. Callaway, based in Carlsbad, California, has strong market presence in the US and Japan, providing Jack Wolfskin with opportunities for international growth.
The acquisition is scheduled for completion in the first quarter of 2019. Before that, the usual approvals of the antitrust authorities were necessary, the companies said.
Just last year, a group of hedge funds took over Jack Wolfskin. Previously, the company had plunged into a deep crisis after the entry in 2011 of the US investor Blackstone. The investment company wanted to tailor the medium-sized company to a global expansion course.
Blackstone also debited Jack Wolfskin as a debt on a significant portion of the purchase price of about 700 million euros. The strategy went awry: sales stagnated, from 2015 to 2016, the number of branches in Germany dropped from 235 to 186.
More background can be found here: Jack Wolfskin - decline of a German brand
Recently, however, the business was running much better again. With sales of 334 million euros, Jack Wolfskin increased its surplus to 42.1 million euros in the 2017/18 financial year.
