Kilmer Capital Partners, a Canadian investment group with stakes in various firms including the Toronto Maple Leafs ice hockey team, has acquired a minority stake in Coalision, the Montreal-based company that markets sports apparel under the Orage and Lolë brand names. The goal is to help finance the company’s expansion, partly through higher investments in marketing and merchandising.
There will be no changes in management. Eric d’Anjou remains as president and chief executive and as a shareholder in the company together with his wife, Evelyn, and three others partners.
No information could be obtained on the terms of the deal or on the company’s financial position, but it seems that Coalision is relatively healthy on annual turnover estimated at between US$30 million and US$50 million. It has offices in Burlington, Vermont; Annecy, France; and Hong Kong.
Orage is regarded as the only major brand of clothing specifically designed for freeskiers. It is sold in 2,200 doors worldwide. It has agents in all the major European markets and distributors in Russia and Bulgaria. The Lolë brand of women’s activewear is sold mainly in North America and in Switzerland.
