Billabong Received 2nd Bid
There’s another suitor to buy beleaguered surf giant Billabong International Ltd.
The Australian company, with a powerful North America division headquartered in Irvine, Calif., announced on Sept. 5 that it received a proposal to acquire the company for 1.45 Australian dollars per share. The party that made the proposal requested confidentiality, but it was rumored to be Bain Capital. The name was not divulged by the sprawling surf company, which is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange.
The recent proposal follows a bid made for Billabong on July 24 by TPG International LLC, a private-investment firm with American offices in New York, San Francisco, and Austin, Texas.TPG proposed to acquire all of Billabong’s shares for AU$1.45 cash per share. The proposal from the unnamed company matched the one from TPG.
Billabong’s board issued a statement that both proposals undervalued the company. However, it allowed TPG and the new suitor to go forward with due-diligence investigations so the suitors would “improve [their] understanding and valuation of Billabong,” according to a company statement. Billabong expects the due-diligence process to take several weeks. The surf company also noted that there is no guarantee that its board will make a decision after the investigations take place.
On Aug. 27, Billabong Chief Executive Officer Launa Inman announced a turnaround strategy that included raising the profile of RVCA and Element, Billabong’s California brands.
—Andrew Asch
