Kathmandu, the New Zealand outdoor brand and retailer, has agreed to take over Oboz Footwear, the U.S. outdoor footwear brand, for $60.0 million in cash and an earn-out of up to $15 million, as a means to expand its footwear and international sales. Established in Montana in 2007, Oboz generates annual sales of about $30 million and it has had a partnership with Kathmandu for more than ten years. The New Zealand brand and retailer, which has 163 stores across New Zealand and Australia, has an exclusive retail partnership with Oboz in both countries. The strategic takeover was announced by Kathmandu as part of its results for the first half of its fiscal year, to the end of January. The retailer's sales increased by 4.3 percent to 204.8 million New Zealand dollars (€119.9m-$148.2m) for the six months, while its operating profit jumped by 21.6 percent to NZ$18.0 million (€10.5m-$13.0m) and it ended the period with net profit of NZ$12.3 million (€7.2m-$8.9m), up by 23.0 percent. The Oboz takeover is to be funded through a fully underwritten NZ$40 million (€23.4m-$28.9m) placement of ordinary shares, and a non-underwritten share purchase plan to raise up to about NZ$8 million, paired with a potential NZ$2 million in over-subscriptions. More in The Outdoor Industry Compass.

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