Armada sold to a sports giant

Probably the best thing that could have happened for Armada. Clearly they were barely treading water, 2.5 in cash for a company with only 10M in sales is a pretty small-time take over. I'm honestly surprised they were holding multiple offices.

Amer runs brands fairly independently. I'm sure the look and feel of Armada will stay pretty consistent.
 
Anyone care to shed light on Hans smith being the only one to come out on top for this deal and fucking everyone over who put money into armada as a shareholder from the beginning, you know who you are, weather big or small and not paying them out, including the money JP invested and should be going to his family or memorial.
 
13804903:lilvg22 said:
Anyone care to shed light on Hans smith being the only one to come out on top for this deal and fucking everyone over who put money into armada as a shareholder from the beginning, you know who you are, weather big or small and not paying them out, including the money JP invested and should be going to his family or memorial.
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I think it's rather baseless assumption to claim that 1) Hans is coming out on top here and 2) that if he did, that he is the only one benefiting from it.

This article from TGR puts it nicely into perspective:
http://www.tetongravity.com/story/news/the-good-the-bad-the-future-of-armada-skis

"Still, Jason Levinthal, founder of Line Skis and now CEO at J Skis, sees it as a cautionary tale for anyone toying with the idea of getting rich by starting up a new brand in the capitally intensive business of ski manufacturing.

Levinthal started Line in his parents’ garage and grew it into a legit industry player before mounting debt forced him to sell to K2. He doesn’t want any would-be ski start-up entrepreneurs to assume that anyone walked away rich from the Armada/Amer deal."
 
13804903:lilvg22 said:
Anyone care to shed light on Hans smith being the only one to come out on top for this deal and fucking everyone over who put money into armada as a shareholder from the beginning, you know who you are, weather big or small and not paying them out, including the money JP invested and should be going to his family or memorial.
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Yeah a lot of people got fucked over in this deal including Hans. You clearly know nothing here.

As Logan mentioned here, (https://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/Armada-Ownership) Hans is literally one of the best people in not just skiing but life. Dude has a heart of gold and virtually no ego.

Hans has personally done more for JP's family, Ingrid and Leo than just about anyone. He personally funded the entire Armada staff to fly to Quebec for JP's celebration of life. He continued to make sure JP's contract was honored long after his death and paid out retainers to his dependent.

This deal isn't all gum drops and rainbows. A lot of my good friends lost their jobs there. But I can guarantee not a single one of them has a bad thing to say about Hans even still. We didn't call him the general for nothing. He's the one you'd go to battle with even if you felt wildly outnumbered.
 
I was a Poor Boyz cinematographer and Freeskier Editor when Armada was formed in 2002. It was a big deal. With all due respect to J Levinthal, it was way bigger than Line at the time. Line still wasn't considered a legit ski manufacturer - they were know for snowblades. So Armada was truly the first rider-driven, core ski company.

Snowboarding had Forum, and this was skiing's answer to legitimacy. In the summer of 2002 when the news of Armada broke, it was a big frickin deal, something that hardcore skiers had been dying for since we started grabbing our skis, spinning, flipping, and skiing switch. If the Salomon 1080 and The New Canadian Air Force was the first shoe to drop, and if Jonny Moseley's Olympic 360 Mute was another, this definitely followed right behind.

Fast forward 15 years to 2017 - Armada has done a spectacular job. They make bomber equipment, and their branding/image is tight as hell. They don't mess up.

At some point, investors need to make a buck; and at some point a company needs some breathing room when it comes to cashflow. This seems like the reason for Armada to sell to Amer.

Who knows how it will influence Armada. There may not be any noticeable affect.

Hands down, they have, by far, the best team in skiing, and it's not even close. You could cut this team in half, and it would still be the best team in skiing. So in the coming years, in an attempt to squeeze more of a profit, do they have to let some skiers go from the team? Who knows.

I realize that they've been diversifying their product for a couple of years now. They make an "all mountain" ski. Obviously, this has to do with increasing market share and revenue - let's be honest, this has nothing to do with staying true to their roots. So in the future, will they have to continue down this road? Will they shift more and more focus from twintips and backcountry skis to all-mountain skis for 30-, 40- and 50-year olds? I don't know. Maybe. That would be a shame. But it's possible.

Either way, Armada has done a remarkable job of staying afloat in an industry that is more a labor of love than money-maker. I assume they have another 15 years in them, and they will still put out awesome freeski-specific products with a youth-oriented brand appeal.

Kudos to Armada.
 
13804924:pghjibber said:
Yeah a lot of people got fucked over in this deal including Hans. You clearly know nothing here.

As Logan mentioned here, (https://www.newschoolers.com/news/read/Armada-Ownership) Hans is literally one of the best people in not just skiing but life. Dude has a heart of gold and virtually no ego.

Hans has personally done more for JP's family, Ingrid and Leo than just about anyone. He personally funded the entire Armada staff to fly to Quebec for JP's celebration of life. He continued to make sure JP's contract was honored long after his death and paid out retainers to his dependent.

This deal isn't all gum drops and rainbows. A lot of my good friends lost their jobs there. But I can guarantee not a single one of them has a bad thing to say about Hans even still. We didn't call him the general for nothing. He's the one you'd go to battle with even if you felt wildly outnumbered.
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I don't post often, but I'm compelled to follow in here.

I'm glad you and others are expressing respect for Hans in the open. It's overdue. He's always tried to remain that behind-the-scenes guy who just works on the business. In reality, he's a lot more than that to a lot of people.

I've known and worked with Hans and the great folks at Armada over the past 13 years. Not only is Hans a consummate professional, but someone who genuinely cares about the people in this business - not just his own. A very tough balancing act. To say that is rare (in any business environment) is an understatement. Those in leadership themselves know what I'm talking about.

Hans is sought as a mentor by many because he a.) cares on a personal level; b.) knows what the fuck he's doing; c.) gets shit done. If given the opportunity, take his advice. Ask me how I know.

Tough decisions have to be made in leadership. They're complex, and rarely win for everyone involved. Very few people here have experienced what I'm talking about. More times than not, you're deciding on the least shitty of all the shitty options available. You own the outcome any way - and do it with a smile on your face because people are counting on you. If making these decisions were easy, more small businesses (especially ski businesses) would be flourishing. But, it's not. It's greuling.

Try to refrain yourselves from armchair quarterbacking this, or attacking someone's character on an internet forum. That's just petty quilting club BS. Today, we call that trolling.

If you know someone directly affected by this deal, let them work it out appropriately. That's a pretty short list of people - people who aren't having an e-fight on Newschoolers.

In closing, I've learned in leadership that you've got to pick your battles and cannot die on the every hill. People need you around doing what you do. You'll make and lose friends in the process. I'm glad Armada will continue on - largely as we have come to know it, and with the people who've made it what it is.

I don't want to think of skiing without Armada around.
 
13804969:cobra_commander said:
I imagine the investiors in Faction and Black Crows are a little shook up...
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I was told, by a Black Crows rep, that Louis Vuitton is one of the financial backers behind Black Crows and that is part of the reason the brand has been killing it the last couple seasons
 
$4.1m is a TINY acquisition price. I am honestly shocked at that number. Wish I could look at those financials, there must be some interesting stuff on that balance sheet.
 
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