SWIM/SURF
Boardriders Names New CEO to Replace Pierre Agnes
After Boardriders’ 54-year-old chief executive disappeared off the coast of southeast France on Jan. 30, the Southern California surfwear company has named his replacement.
Dave Tanner, who is currently chief turnaround officer at Boardriders, headquartered in Huntington Beach, Calif., will be replacing Pierre Agnes as CEO.
Thomas Chambolle, currently Boardriders’ global chief financial officer, will become the interim president of Boardriders’ division covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
In addition, Greg Healy will remain global president of the Boardriders division that covers Australia, New Zealand and Asia.
Rescue operations in the south of France were called off a day after Agnes’ 36-foot sailboat washed ashore without him on board.
Agnes had left the docks of Capbreton earlier that day to go fishing, as he often did, and was expected to return later in the morning when thick fog rolled in.
According to news reports, French authorities dispatched boats and helicopters off the coast of southwest France on Jan. 30 to search for Agnes after his boat washed ashore in nearby Hossegor on the Atlantic coast. They called off the search the following day.
Boardriders, which is the new name of Quiksilver after it declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2015, was undergoing a major transformation after it emerged from bankruptcy in 2016. Oaktree Capital Management took a major equity stake in the company after a $175 million investment in the venture, which includes the labels Roxy and DC Shoes.
Earlier this year, Boardriders reached a deal to acquire its rival, Billabong, in a deal worth about $315 million. The transaction is still expected to close in the first half of this year.
After the deal closed, Agnes was to become the new president of Boardriders while Tanner, with Oaktree, was to become the newly named company’s chief executive officer.
Tanner said that he and his colleagues were grief stricken about the sudden loss of the company’s chief executive officer. “While it is impossible to replace Pierre’s spirit, we have filled our team with talented and creative professionals who will continue to nurture the company’s unique culture, build on our past successes and deliver on our now even more meaningful collective mission,” he said in a statement.
