Zumiez to acquire Blue Tomato
US-based action sports apparel, footwear and equipment retailer Zumiez is to acquire Blue Tomato, an action sports retailer based in Austria. The total purchase price is EUR59.5 million.
Founded by former snowboarding champion Gerfried Schuller in 1988, Blue Tomato operates one of Europe's largest action sports ecommerce websites and five stores in Austria. It sells a diverse mix of branded snow and skate apparel, footwear and accessories across Europe.
For the year ended April 30, Blue Tomato reported a net sales increase of approximately 27% to EUR29.4 million. Net income was EUR3.5 million.
Blue Tomato will continue to be headquartered in Schladming, Austria, and senior management, led by Mr Schuller, will continue in their current roles.
Rick Brooks, CEO at Zumiez, said: "Joining forces with Blue Tomato represents the next step in our strategic plan to build the leading global action sports retail business.
"Europe has a large, vibrant and growing action sports community, which Gerfried and his team have skilfully tapped into through a broad offering of authentic brands and products, a differentiated retail experience, and superior customer service.
The similarities between each organisation's culture and
operating philosophies give us great confidence we can successfully leverage
our combined expertise to selectively expand Blue Tomato's European footprint
and strengthen our foundation to support future international
development."
