Amer Sports has acquired selected assets of the American ski equipment and apparel company, Armada, including its iconic brand, its intellectual property and the distribution rights, for a total price of $4.1 million. The price comprises $2.5 million in cash and the writeoff of outstanding liabilities stemming from the contract work that one of Amer's subsidiaries, Atomic, has been doing for Armada in the past ten years.
Lately Amer's factories have been making about 30 percent of Armada's skis, and the rest has been sourced from other Austrian manufacturers. This will continue, with Amer's winter sports equipment business unit providing its manufacturing expertise.
Founded by professional skiers in 2002 and based in Park City, Utah, Armada generates annual sales of about $10 million. Erik Snyder, the company's former chief executive, left the company a few months ago. The brand will be placed under the leadership of one of its co-founders, Hans Smith.
Armada will be integrated into Amer's winter sports equipment unit, headed by Michael Schineis. Amer will help Armada to reinforce its relationship with existing clients and to find new customers according to its positioning in the market. On the other hand, Armada's acquisition will accelerate the group's position in the U.S., where the brand has a solid presence.
Amer's main winter sports equipment brands are Atomic and Salomon. It still has a high-end brand of skis, Volant, which launched a new range at the last Ispo Munich fair. This luxury brand will continue to be developed.
