SES has heard rumblings for a while that Fox Head may be up for sale after the Fox family difficulties that led to Pete Fox resigning from his CEO role and board member Nick Adcock taking his place.
Now, Deal Pipeline, an acquisitions trade publication, is reporting that Fox Head has hired Robert W. Baird & Co. to shop the company, and estimated bids could be in the $200 million range.
Fox spent the past several years investing heavily in its infrastructure and increased its focus on its surf category, hiring several top employees from other action sports brands and adding new athletes to the roster.
Since Pete’s departure, Fox has implemented layoffs and other cost cutting efforts.
The publication lists VF Corp. as a potential strategic buyer, a name that usually comes up in action sports acquisition stories, and noted that private equity firms such as Altamont Capital Partners have been active in the space.
It’s also not hard to imagine that Pete Fox, who remains a board member, would attempt to be involved in some way in a potential acquisition of the company he loves.
Fox is one of the few large, independently owned action sports companies remaining in the industry, a list that includes Burton and Sole Technology.
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