K2 Corp. Buys Volkl and Marker

K

KAF

Member
Last night at midnight, K2 Corporation bought all of Volkl and Marker. They also bought the Marker clothing/soft goods division, Marker LTD. They however did not buy Tecnica or any part of Tecnica as the man who owned Tecnica, Volkl, etc. did not want to sell. Pretty interesting development.

K2 Corporation now owns K2 Skis, K2 Snowboards, Ride Snowboards, Morrow Snowboards, Liquid, 51/50, Volkl Skis, Volkl Snowboards, Marker Ski Bindings, and a host of other entities including Brass Eagle, the paint ball company, and K2 Bikes.

I'll post the full articles whenever they become available.

 
I wonder how that will stack them up against Rossignol/Dynastar now.

Q: How many NS.com members does it take to answer a simple question?

A: 10. One to answer, three to say 'How fucking stupid are you?', three to say 'This has already been asked a thousand times', and three to say 'Who the fuck cares anyway?'
 


K2 Inc. Announces the Acquisition of Three Leading Companies in Winter Sports and Outdoor Apparel

CARLSBAD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 16, 2004--K2 Inc. (NYSE:KTO):

-- Volkl Sports -- premium skis

-- Marker Group -- leading ski bindings

-- Marmot Mountain Ltd. -- premium outdoor technical apparel and equipment

K2 Inc. (NYSE:KTO) announced the signing of three definitive acquisition agreements in which Volkl Sports Holding AG, The Marker Group and Marmot Mountain Ltd. would become wholly owned subsidiaries of K2. The transactions, which are subject to regulatory review and other customary conditions, are expected to be completed by mid-July, 2004. K2 indicated that it expects the transactions to be accretive to its earnings in 2004 and subsequent years.

'The Volkl and Marker acquisitions are very significant in that they continue our strategy of building a truly global winter products platform for K2,' said Richard Heckmann, K2's chairman and chief executive officer. 'The ski business is increasingly driven by a few global players with integrated ski and binding systems, and this transaction will solidify K2's leading position on a global basis. K2, Volkl and Marker are leading authentic brands and together they will constitute the most unique and powerful winter products platform in the industry today. The addition of Volkl and Marker's strong European management team gives us a unique opportunity to combine our significant European operations for the benefit of both customers and employees. Volkl's outstanding heritage of German engineering excellence will be a strong addition to our worldwide product offering in the ski industry as will their superb manufacturing facilities.'

Mr. Heckmann continued: 'Equally exciting is the Marmot acquisition, which positions K2 with a scaleable platform in the outdoor technical apparel market. One of K2's objectives has been to build a premium technical apparel platform that would complement its reputation for performance products in sporting goods. Combined with the recently announced acquisition of Ex Officio, we are confident that we will be able to successfully grow these businesses and expand K2's presence in technical outdoor apparel. With 35 major brands across many of the major sporting goods markets, the opportunity to combine the technical high-end apparel expertise of Marmot and Ex Officio with K2's leading equipment brands and broad retail distribution will present internal growth possibilities for some time.'

 
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO i love volkl NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

'HOW THE FUCK AM I SUPPOSED TO RELAX WHEN I MAN IS GONNA STICK HIS TWO FINGERS IN MY ASSHOLE'

-hoodratz47

 
what happens to the Volkl riders?

'You think you're too cool for school, but I've got a newsflash for you Walter Kronkite...You aren't' - Zoolander
 
K2 is gonna buy everyski company and take over the whole skiing industry

JIBARITO

(its actually a restaurant in Peurto Rico)

Guitaring for life

 
I would doubt that Volkl is going to change at all.

Q: How many NS.com members does it take to answer a simple question?

A: 10. One to answer, three to say 'How fucking stupid are you?', three to say 'This has already been asked a thousand times', and three to say 'Who the fuck cares anyway?'
 
hopefully the v ski line will get better graphics

--------------

You cant possibly know what its like to grow up in a house of freaks! My fahter was blind,my mother was deaf and my sisters were midgets!
 
^ there 2005 graphics are pretty sick

Sponsored By Your Mom

Drop Cliff's, Not Bombs

Make Turns, Not War

Member #259
 
i think this pretty much sucks, u have rossi/dynastar, now volkl/k2, its a good thing company's like Line/Armada/4frnt still exist to give us a break from the corporate conglomerate

just my two cents, i hope i still get some karmas next winter like i was supposed to, haha

Hibachi King drops 9/9/04...and it shouldnt suck! hah

 
aaahhhhhhhh they're a monopoly.. lets kill them

i pee on ur face but i dont care..

i take off ur little sisters underwear

shes only three so shes never seen a wee wee

so i told her it was a lollypop and the flavor was salty.

shoved in her mouth, it punctured through her cheek broke the glasses of that three year old geek.

r. kelly did the same but im not about to give him the blame cuz fucking littles girls is just my game
 
Wait...what's the Dynastar/Rossignol deal? Is it like Dynastar, Look, Lange, Rossignol Skis and Snowboards?

I live in Dirty Jersey. I curse... a lot. I say -yo- and I say it often. I sure as hell dont pump my own gas. I know a bagel is much more than a fuckin roll with a hole in the middle. I judge people by what exit they live off the parkway. I can navigate a circle... with attitude. Two words-- mother fucker. I dont go to the beach, I go down the shore. I know that 65 mph really means 80. When someone cuts me off, they get the finger... and they expect it. I ride ice and i dont mind, 6 inches of snow is heaven for me. Im a Jersey Kid..

The New East Coast-
 
yea, that was diffinitly the buzz around govy this morning. For everyone who is shrugging there shoulders and say 'who gives a fuck' this is BIG news. K2 now controls aproximetly 720,000 ski units that sell world wide every year.

The thing that will be MORE interesting to see is how the relastionship with TECHNICA goes down. See, k2 only bought Volkl Skis, Snowboards, Marker, and Marmot. the technica family still owns technica boots, so now there is no longer the Volkl, Technica, Marker trio. So atheletes that had the trio of a sponcer ship now have the ability to pick up a differant boot sponser.

Also, think about production. Volkl is primarly produced out of Germany, where costs are somewhat cheap, but if there factorys get moved to asia with k2, then costs will plummit. Will be interesting to see if volkls retail costs go down like the Fugitives.

anywhom this is big shit.

_________________________________________________________

DYNASTAR.LANGE.LOOK.SMITH
 
lol i told you guys and no one believed me, that k2 owns like half of america, eat that, they also own adio skateboarding footwear, shakesphere fishing supplies, worth and rawlings baseball gear, planet earth apparel, hawk shoes, debeer lacrosse, olin skis, and a buncha other companies.

what more reason to buy Armada, 4FRNT, and Line skis??? we know where our money's going, and why does it take my buddy 1 month to get his k2 public enemies replaced and it took me 1 week to get my line skis replaced?

i can post my speech on supporting rider owned ski companies that i did for speech class if ya'll like.

www.BottleCapProductions.com

info@bottlecapproductions.com

PROHIBITED to be released summer of 2004

we are about pure riding enjoyment!
 
thats amazing, they own Rawlings sporting goods as well.

___________________

You know the Nazis had pieces of flair that they made the Jews wear.

once back when i was a fetus i was aborted. it didn't hurt at all, but i was also high on life at the time. - thisangelicrage
 
v-skis graphics are the shit next year. i saw them on this one french site and they are off the hook. dont worry about the v-ski graphics for next year.

 
adio/hawk/planet earth fall under atlas distrobution, which is in turn owned by k2 - they aren't individually owned by the company. just thought i'd insert that random fact.

_____________________

'hitler on a stick i tell ya. The new frozen treat from COMMUUNIST CHINA'

 
and the funny thing is k2 owns all this shit and they still pay their athletes fuck all. eg. seth great all american company aye

ulta-matum
 
the K2 ski company you all are thinking about is part of K2 Coprporation too. All the companies you've listed above are part of a corporation but they all act/opporate independent of each other...don't expect to see ANY changes for a couple of years...bitching about this is like bitching about Land Rover being owned by Ford...they are different comapies and will remain different comanies...if anything this will promote more competition internally as K2 and Volkl compete to be the best company under the K2 inc. umbrella.

 
but what more reason to buy Line, 4FRNT, and ARmada, at least i know where every freakin penny is going that I'm spending on their gear. I must add tho, I think it's great the opportunity they've given schmies at k2 to represent rider driven graphics, theres just more to it i think.

www.BottleCapProductions.com

info@bottlecapproductions.com

PROHIBITED to be released summer of 2004

we are about pure riding enjoyment!
 
/\ how? just because comps buy each other doesn't mean they lose their sole... just means that now they have such a large volume of ski goods destributed around the world (750,00 roughly) that now they can lower production cost alot and pass some of that savings on to you the consumer (this also depends on how gredy the K2 board/share holders are) so now this is a sign to others that K2 isn't fucking around anymore and wants to become a driving force in all aspects of the ski world, personaly i think this is a great move on K2's part. and its a way they can make skiing a little more afordible, not just a rich mans sport anymore.

.:l[Tyler]l:.

When I was 15 i found a mole on my neck and i knew then that I should try to make a living skiing... - Eric Pollard
 
Yeah, just because K2 owns Volkl doesnt mean that the Volkl skis are going to be like the skis K2 owns. The Volkl name will still exist and the skis will probably be just as they were before they were bought out.

-Jason
 
one thing...it wasnt at midnight...it was actually around 1/1:30 am...

guess she doesn't know hers comes with free refills
 
well Technica...I thought it was Volkl...but i guess it's technica bought Nordica, and next year everythign is insane, their new SUV 12's are supposed to be next year's best all mountain perofrmance ski, but the skis still look the same, dont expect anything to change, k2 just bought a good name with a good product, their is no reason to change the structure and mission of the company, the R&D team definately doesnt need any changes...a.k.a supersport=sick!!!!!!!!!!!

 
hey martockpublicenemy theres no such thing as v-pros next year. they are replacing it with the karma and its pretty much the same thing but like 6 millimeters fatter.

 
obviously Volkl will still exist with its VOLKL style ski, k2 wasnt just out to buy a company to 'make them stop existing'. I imagine volkl will still operate as an independent company as k2, because really, Volkl sells race skis and limited twin tips. I dont see Volkl being a big enough competitor against K2 where they would want to garnish Volkls sales for their own brand

im just not a big fan of the 'corporate conglomerate' feeling

Hibachi King drops 9/9/04...and it shouldnt suck! hah

 
Fact: K2 started by building fiberglass dog houses on Vashon Island in wahsington state. wow.

It's easier to get older than it is to get wiser.
 
if they move the Volkl factory to asia, it would be taking the most well made ski now and turning into the most breakable cheap crap

 
Volkl is not moving to Asia. They will, as countless others have stated, continue to run as their own in their high-tech German facility. They simply are under our umbrella now, which aids greatly in distribution for Europe, as stated above. Our skis will not become eachother or blend into one brand. Volkl kills it in race and carving sales, and yes, they are a very big competitor to K2. The release above stated Volkl was the number one earner in dollars, while K2 was the biggest in units sold in the U.S.

As for K2 not being core, or for the insinuation that it isn't a true soul focus any longer....please man, everyone involved with skis here on the island lives and breathes it. Not a one of them is a slouch on the sticks and I am honored to work amongst a group so dedicated to our sport. That being said, I'm out.

-schmies

 
Another extract from www.natives.co.uk

K2 set to become biggest ski manufacturer

In what could be a massive development for the snowsports industry, K2, the biggest ski maker in the United States, has announced it is buying the Volkl/Marker Group, as well as purchasing Marmot, which makes outdoor/ski clothing, for a total of just over $300 million.

K2 is growing as the number of companies making ski-equipment is decreasing. After the purchases, K2 will get 20 percent of its sales in Europe, up from 15 percent, and its annual ski production will almost triple to 720,000 pairs from 250,000, the company said.

It will become the biggest ski manufacturer in the world, ahead of Adidas Salomon.

'We will start shoving ourselves around instead of being shoved around,' Chief Executive Richard Heckmann said during a conference call with analysts and investors. 'Once consolidation starts, you can't put the genie back in the bottle.'

Buying Volkl and Marker will help K2 compete with European rivals Rossignol and Adidas-Salomon, Heckmann said.

-------------------

www.teamksm.co.uk
 
Like schmies said, everyone involved with K2 Skis, skis, and skis hard. Tim Petrick, I forgot his exact title, but something like US sales manager or VP or something along those lines, was heli skiing in AK two years ago, got caught in a slide and broke some ribs. That guy is all about skiing and pushing it. Quit being so ignorant and learn some stuff about a company and the people that work for it before you go bashing its 'soul.'

 
i love head

When in doubt...FSI

...fuckin send it

work to live...not live to work.

work to ski...but only if you ski to work. The simple equation to skibumming 101
 
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