Investcorp, a big investment company that previously owned Helly Hansen, is providing ample financial means to Dainese and Poc to develop faster than before, according to their managers, who have just begun to know each other to determine possible future synergies.
Investcorp completed the acquisition of a majority stake in Dainese, the leading Italian supplier of sports protection equipment, in January 2015. It also bought later in the year Poc, the younger and smaller Swedish brand of helmets and eyewear.
Dainese is enjoying a stronger momentum since the acquisition. After an increase of about 9 percent in 2014, the company saw its sales jump last year by 12.7 percent to €144.7 million. The figure includes the sales of AVG, the Italian brand of high-end motorcycling helmets that Dainese took over in 2007.
Most of Dainese's turnover continues to come from the motorcycling sector. With sales of around €15 million like in previous years, sporting goods continue to represent a small portion of the total turnover, and the mild weather conditions of last year didn't help its relatively big snow sports business. However, it got a good response at the last Ispo Munich fair to its new ergonomic winter sports clothing line and its new Flexagon back protection technology.
Cristiano Silei, the seasoned Italian manager who was appointed chief executive of Dainese one year ago, says he and the rest of his management have started to review its sporting goods segment in view of a relaunch. The company is working on simplifying the skiwear line and the development of new protection equipment for cycling and other sports, including for example horse-riding.
However, he cautions that it will still take time to apply Dainese's sophisticated D-air airbag technology to commercial products for skiing and cycling. Mostly used in competitive motorcycling, the system has already been activated more than 1,000 times on the race tracks and the ski slopes. It was recently approved for use in the World Cup of skiing, where it saved Matthias Mayer from more serious injuries from a downhill crash last Dec. 19.
Meanwhile, Silei has boosted the management by hiring a new chief marketing officer, Mario Spitzner, and a new chief financial officer, Riccardo Fraboni. They are working together with the marketing and communication director of the group, Fabio Muner, and its administrative director, Gianni Lievore. Spitzner, a German manager who worked previously for Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, assumed the new role last December.
One of Silei's projects is the development of Dainese in North America, where the brand's potential is very strong. Three new Dainese stores are going to open soon in the U.S., where he spent many years at the head of Ducati North America.
Silei has also the task of overseeing the development of Poc, which continues to be run independently by the brand's founder in Sweden, Stefan Ytterborn. The two managers are studying the establishment of a new common American third-party logistic hub for their respective products.For its sales in the U.S., Poc has been using the warehousing facilities of its former owner, Black Diamond. The brand's U.S. management has already moved from BD's office in Salt Lake City to another one in nearby Park City.
As previously reported, Poc's new business plan involves continued investment in the cycling market, which is intended to rise from 30 to 50 percent of its sales. Ytterborn says that Investcorp is providing a “safety net” and longterm support to help the company continue to grow by between 25 and 30 percent a year, helping to finance its increasingly complex R&D activities and its marketing initiatives.
He declined to comment on Poc's results for last year but said that its sales were up by about 25 percent from the previously reported 2014 level of $34.8 million.
