Private Equity and Skiing

4

4frntSkier

Active member
I work in finance and found it interesting that even Private Equity which is vilified by the media is quite active in the ski industry. Chances are that PE funds are investors in where you ride, what you are wearing and skiing on. Not really making a point or argument. I personally had always thought many of our brands (new or mature) were grassroots and built for skiers by skiers. While true for some I was certainly surprised that just as with many companies, Ivy League MBAs and capital from wall street are playing roles in many of our beloved companies. I think everyone wins.
http://www.crunchbase.com/company/gopro
http://www.kslcapital.com/#investments
http://www.boomerangcapital.com/
http://www.crunchbase.com/company/faction-skis

http://www.linkedin.com/profile/view?id=5404670&authType=NAME_SEARCH&authToken=OCSq&locale=en_US&srchid=b8091684-1bda-42d4-97e0-91cf526a2a87-0&srchindex=1&srchtotal=40&goback=%2Efps_PBCK_*1_Erik_Snyder_*1_*1_*1_*1_*2_*1_Y_*1_*1_*1_false_1_R_*1_*51_*1_*51_true_*1_us%3A0_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2_*2&pvs=ps&trk=pp_profile_name_link

 
skiing is old.

old sports = old companies.

old companies = been round the block long time.

been round the block long time = madddd cheddar.

and big resorts, lets use whistler as an example, are an investors wet cream.

you have a vacation destination, hotels, restaurants, real estate etc etc all in one.

sounds like if you had of actually sat down and thought about it you could have came to this conclusion on your own.

skiing is huge business.

newschool skiing is not.
 
Companies need capital. Private Equity firms want to invest theirs in the most efficient ways possible. Being in the PE industry, simply watching Shark Tank can give you a ground level idea of what pitch days are like... someone needs to pay for those presses.
 
I expect mature firms to be taken private. It is part of the lifecycle.

Younger and smaller companies too, like Surface and Joystick and GoPro and I guarantee many many others are PE owned.
 
Exactly how I think about it. Those nice websites, teams of athletes and expensive manufacturing processes don't pay for themselves and unlike developing a mobile app, they are actual capital intensive.
 
Yeah, I'm not surprised at all. It's damn near impossible to build a legitimate startup from out-of-pocket funds.
 
The think the point he is making is that many people on this site get mad when companies aren't "core" or original, yet almost every company, regardless of its image, has investment capital from those who have little affiliation with the newschool movement.
 
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