Industry customer Sport Chalet is being acquired by a company that owns Eastern Mountain Sports, also an industry customer, and Bob’s stores.
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Sport Chalet, with 50 stores in the U.S. western states of California, Nevada, Utah and Arizona, announced it was looking for potential partnerships and/or investors last year as the retailer set to expand its technological strategies.
Under the agreement, Sport Chalet will keep its stores open and keep its name the same. CEO Craig Levra will continue to manage the business out of Los Angeles, the companies said.
Vestis Retail Group, which owns Eastern Mountain Sports and Bob’s, will pay $1.20 per share in cash for Sport Chalet. This morning, Sport Chalet’s stock is trading at $1.15 per share.
Vestis believes the acquisition will increase its geographical scope and create synergistic vendor relationships, marketing focus and inventory platforms.
“We believe we will be very well positioned to compete in today’s retail environment as part of a larger organization with significant scale advantages and broad geographic reach,” Sport Chalet’s Levra said.
Together, the three chains had $800 million in sales in 2013 and 150 stores.
Founding members of Sport Chalet and some company executives have already agreed to sell their shares to Vestis.
The deal is expected to close during the third quarter.
