As part of a wider acquisition drive, K-Swiss Global Brands (KSGB) has bought One-Distribution, a leading skate-inspired apparel and footwear manufacturer, at an undisclosed price. One-Distribution is the parent company of KR3W Denim and Supra Footwear, a sneaker brand focused on skating, which became most popular with its Skytop.
K-Swiss itself was acquired in 2013 by the E-Land Group from South Korea, which uses KSGB's infrastructure as a base of operations in the Americas as well as Europe, the Middle East and Africa. KSGB already distributes K-Swiss, Palladium, PLDM and OTZ Shoes. The company told Footwear News that it was targeting sales of about $3 billion with ten brands by around 2020.
The interest by K-Swiss was motivated by the complementary aspects of the Supra brand and its international sales network. Supra's international sales are said to make up about 60 percent of its turnover.
Based in Fountain Valley, California, KSGB was previously owned by a group of shareholders including Bertram Capital, a private equity firm from San Mateo, California. Among the shareholders was also a small group of private investors including the founders of One-Distribution, Angel Cabada, Scott VanDerripe and Scott Bailey.
At the same time, KSGB has appointed Robert “Cape” Capener as president of both Supra and K3RW. He will report to Larry Remington, president and chief executive of KSGB. Capener has a long track record in the sports apparel and footwear business, and particularly in action sports. He established the Above the Rim and Heaton brands, and worked as an executive at Adidas, Reebok and No Fear.
The leadership teams at KSGB and One-Distribution are working on plans to integrate the group's brands and entities. One-Distribution has offices in California as well as Spain, Australia and China, and five multi-brand retail stores in Los Angeles, New York City, Mexico City, Paris and Tokyo. Supra was established in 2006 in the skate industry and has turned into an international lifestyle brand, while KR3W was launched three years earlier and also emanates from the skate culture.
