Business news : Easton-Bell Sports Being Prepped for Sale

Fenway Partners has hired an investment bank to help it sell Easton-Bell Sports Inc. which owns the  Bell, Blackburn, Easton, Giro and Riddell brands, according to Reuters and a banking source reached by SGB Update.

While company officials would not comment on the report, one banking source reached by SGB Update identified the bank as Goldman Sachs. Reuters attributed its report to three unnamed sources.

A private equity firm, Fenway Partners began forming Easton-Bell Sports in 2004, when it announced it would acquire Bell Sports and merge it with Riddell Sports Group to form the world’s largest protective headgear company.

 

The news follows the resignation of CEO Paul Harrington in February, when the company appointed former CEO and co-owner Terry Lee executive chairman and chief executive officer. In addition to serving on the board of several companies, Lee is a senior operating partner at JH Partners, a consumer-focused private equity firm based in San Francisco. Tim Mayhew, a managing director of Fenway Consulting Partners, LLC and an Easton-Bell Board member since 2004, was appointed president and chief operating officer at that time.

 

Easton-Bell reported its first loss in six years in 2012 as tough comps and disappointing winter weather in the fourth quarter offset gains made in the prior nine months. Net sales dipped 1.0 percent to $827.2 million on a 1.7 percent decline in Team Sales to $480.3 million and a 4.3 percent decline in Action Sports revenues, which reached $346.9 million. The company reported a net loss of $3.42 million, it first such loss since 2006.

 

Source Fenway Partners through SportsOneSource