Boardriders is the company that owns many of the industry’s biggest brands including Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong, RVCA, DC Shoes, Element and VonZipper.
Owned by distressed debt specialists Oaktree Capital Management, Boardriders is incredibly complex, with e-commerce platforms in 35 countries, nearly 500 stores in 56 countries, and over 7,000 wholesale accounts, according to the Boardriders website.
Brands and brand leadership are also headquartered in different geographies – Roxy and Element are based in Europe, and Quiksilver is in the midst of transferring brand leadership back to the U.S. after it resided in France for several years. Billabong, DC and RVCA are headquartered in the U.S.
Boardriders has also gone through a lot of turmoil over the years including restructuring and integration, the sudden tragic death of former CEO Pierre Agnes, a crippling cyber-attack, an extended distribution center disaster that prevented timely shipments to customers, and the COVID-19 crisis.
Through it all, however, the brands have mostly remained strong and market leaders, which is really a testament to the global power of the brands and teams that lead them.
Boardriders does not report financials, so the last report we have of company revenue was a Moody’s report, which stated Boardriders’ revenue totaled $1.7 billion for the 12 months ended Jan. 31, 2022. SES is told that the company showed year-over-year revenue growth for the company’s fiscal year that ended Oct. 31.
Now, licensing company Authentic Brands Group has made a binding offer to acquire the company, and the deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2023.
