VF Corp. posted a video this week of CFO Matt Puckett explaining what the company looks for in acquisition targets. It is part of the company’s “How We Do It,” series that is designed to give a glimpse into who VF is as a company and how it approaches different aspects of its business.
In light of the rampant talk about a possible Boardriders sale – which was the hottest topic at Surf Expo – we thought it would be helpful to share what Puckett had to say.
To be clear, while we do know Boardriders has been going through a potential sale process, we do not know for sure who the prospective acquirers are, who may be still in the running, or if a deal will really happen. When we have facts that we confirm on the record, we will post them.
Here’s what Puckett had to say about potential targets.
“So, when we’re looking at a brand that we would bring into the portfolio, we’re really looking at three primary things: strategic fit, ownership, and financial results.”
“We love outdoor, we love active, we love athletic, because that’s where the consumers are and we want to be where the consumers are. It’s the brands that are winning in those spaces, that’s what really excites us.”
“Ownership is another important attribute. What can we bring to a brand as it comes into our portfolio that will allow it to be more successful in some of the capabilities and platforms? Our international platforms, the opportunity to grow internationally as an example. What do they bring to us? How will they benefit from VF owning them, and how will we benefit from the ability to bring in their business, their model, and their people. That’s another big aspect.”
“We want brands to be accretive to what we’re doing financially. We’re generally always, I would say active. I mean we’re always evaluating the marketplace. We’ve always got a list of brands that we are really interested in in those spaces. Some are probably not actionable, some maybe are.”
“There’s about 6, 8, 10 questions that we’re always trying to answer. The more of those questions that we can green check mark against, then that gives us a lot of confidence to really lean in, and then really kind of engage.”
