Reebok International Ltd., the second-largest U.S. athletic-shoe maker, agreed to buy Hockey Company Holdings Inc. for about $204 million in cash to gain exclusive
rights to supply the National Hockey League with game jerseys.
Reebok also will assume $125 million of debt, the Canton, Mass.-based company said in a statement. Montreal-based Hockey, which makes hockey uniforms, skates and sticks under the
CCM, JOFA and KOHO brands, had sales of $239.9 million last year.
Reebok Chief Executive Paul Fireman, 60, has built a licensing
business that includes supplying apparel to the National Football
League and National Basketball Association. The purchase will give
Reebok a long-term agreement with the NHL, under which Hockey
supplies equipment to all 30 teams. Reebok also gains rights to make
and sell authentic, replica and practice jerseys with NHL logos.
“This is a very good acquisition,” said Wells Fargo
Securities analyst John Shanley, who has a “buy” rating on Reebok and doesn’t own any shares himself. “It clearly will give them a dominant position in the hockey business. There’s a
growing demand for hockey jerseys as a fashion statement.”
The purchase may add to Reebok’s 2004 per-share profit by as
much as 10 cents depending on the NHL’s current labor
negotiations, the company said.
Bloomberg News
