Hockey’s two biggest equipment manufacturers announced major transactions this week, and there are implications for the lacrosse world.
On Tuesday, Fairfax Financial Holdings acquired the controlling interest in Peak Achievement Athletics. Peak is the parent company that owns Bauer Hockey and lacrosse brands Cascade and Maverick. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Meanwhile, BNN Bloomberg reported Wednesday that Swedish firm Altor Equity Partners is acquiring a majority stake in CCM hockey. The article, jointly written by Paula Sambo and Liana Baker, cites that the company was valued between C$500-600. Adidas sold CCM in 2017 for just $110 million.
The Bauer deal, which was reported by the Financial Post, will see Fairfax acquire the controlling interest from Sagard Holdings. Fairfax and Sagard jointly bought Peak in 2017 for US$575 million after the company declared bankruptcy. With this deal, Fairfax will own the entire company.
In a statement, Peak CEO Ed Kinnaly said “[H]aving Bauer hockey remain with Canadian ownership reflects the importance of the sport within Canadian culture. With Fairfax’s ongoing support, the opportunity for our business potential is limitless.”
The statement also cites that “Cascade Lacrosse and Maverik Lacrosse combine to be the leader in lacrosse head protection and equipment.”
Maverick was founded in 2005, and was acquired by Bauer (which was owned at the time by a private equity firm called Kohlberg Sports Group), in 2010. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Kohlberg, along with Montreal businessman Graeme Roustan, acquired Bauer from Nike for $200 million in 2008.
Maverick was founded by former Johns Hopkins and MLL defender John Gagliardi, who went on to become the Founder of Kane Footwear, a brand of recovery shoes popular with many lacrosse players.
Gagliardi played four seasons in the NLL with the New York Saints and Philadelphia Wings. In 2001, he played 10 games for the Philadelphia Wings, who would go on to win the NLL championship that year.
Cascade was acquired by Bauer on June 13, 2012 for a total of US$64 million. The acquisition included the then recently launched line of cascade hockey helmets. Cascade no longer produces hockey helmets, but their technology was incorporated into Bauer products.
Cascade and Maverick compose two of the five legacy brands in lacrosse equipment. Warrior lacrosse was founded in 1992 by David Morrow, and was acquired by New Balance in 2004. Warrior began releasing hockey equipment in 2005.
In 2007, Warrior acquired Brine, one of the leading lacrosse equipment manufacturers. Currently, Warrior produces exclusively men’s equipment, while Brine produces women’s equipment.
The other is STX, which was one of the original manufacturers of non-wooden sticks. It is still a subsidiary of Wm.T. Burnett & Co., a Baltimore based company.
In recent years, those manufacturers have seen significant competition from new brands like StringKing and East Coast Dyes (both founded in 2011). Furthermore, Signature Lacrosse began as a lacrosse ball manufacturer and now makes sticks for pros like Dhane Smith, while protective gear maker EvoShield evolved from their origins in baseball and now produces lacrosse gear as well.
With the news of the major hockey manufacturers selling for (presumably in the Bauer case) huge sums, will the lacrosse world follow this path towards one or two companies dominating the market? Or will these breakthrough manufacturers force a competitive equipment market?
With the lacrosse market growing rapidly, especially in the United States, this will be an interesting dynamic to monitor.