Sector 9 Sold to Billabong Surf

[skategeezer]

Breaking News, called in from our good friend Garrett Hurley of GFH Boards, comes regarding three new Southern California multi-millionaires! Years of work, marketing, posturing, stoking and the occasional bullying, thuggery and destokification have paid off and well:

Billabong Buys Sector 9!

Hey, it's a joke. Lighten up. (The pic, not the news.)

You read that right and the news has just started spreading around the industry. Ten Million Dollars, each? Nobody knows that part, yet, but the news is the acquisition also includes GullWing Trucks. We don't know the effect on Dregs or Arbor. Here's the release, hot off the Austrailian presses:


Billabong International Ltd has acquired Californian-based skateboard brand, Sector 9. Billabong said the US skateboard company, founded in 1994, has emerged as a market leader in the design and manufacture of skate longboards - a niche segment within the skateboard market. The Queensland-based company said it expects Sector 9 to contribute around two per cent to its sales in the 2008/09 financial year and the acquisition is expected to be earnings per share accretive in year one.

Billabong chief executive Derek O'Neill said Sector 9 operated in the specialty board sports channel with a unique product offering. "Sector 9's products, primarily its longboards, really differentiate it from other brands in the board sports channel and have appeal to surfers, skateboarders and the broader youth market," he said. Co-founders and owners Steve Lake and Dennis Telfer and co-owner Dave Klimkiewicz are being retained as part of the acquisition in their current roles.

Click through for industry reactions and our thoughts:
Read more...


Sector Nine sold to Billabong

interesting...very interesting...the plot thickens

Billabong International Ltd has acquired Californian-based skateboard brand, Sector 9.

[Mile_High_Mark]

Good for them (S9).

[TylertheSquint]

does this mean change for us also?

[Cheefa]

hopefully drop in price, and further development "fingers crossed"

[Mile_High_Mark]

Originally Posted by Cheefa

hopefully drop in price, and further development "fingers crossed"

I would seriously doubt that prices will go down.

[inluvwithsara]

I figure wider disto...

[TylertheSquint]

im thinking newer boards?

[EBasil]

Josh Hunter, at TransWorld Biz, picked up on the news and put together a good graphic for it. Good job!



Here's a Link to Josh's article, with pretty much the same info that's on the front page of the 'fish. TWB

[TylertheSquint]

is that it? i wouldve thought i would look bomb.but hopefully theyll get something better

[gspotornado]

Originally Posted by Mile_High_Mark

I would seriously doubt that prices will go down.

yeah, this isn't really politics but, dont be expecting prices to go down for many goods...
dunno if this includes skate gear but once hyperinflation hits the country (think 40's germany where people had to wheelbarrel their deutchmarks to buy a loaf of bread), prices will be astronomical. zimbabwe right now is going through hyperinflation of their currency, they just came out with the new 50,000,000$ zimbabwean note! no joke.

1929 will be a drop in the bucket compared to this.

as for s9 getting sold to billabong, dosn't affect me as i dont ride s9.

[samhell]

Very Interesting........
Billabong International Acquires Sector 9 Skateboards | Transworld Business

[nokeboarder]

good or bad?

[spaceghost0]

I guess I wouldn't have expected BB to have that kind of clout.

[jbw5485]

i ride S9. love my board.
S9 might be the new Loaded.......................lol naaaaaa
mommie i wanna loaded for x-mas.

[AngryGumball]

Mainstreaming longboards...do we really want that? I do and don't at the same time...anyway, I wonder how this will pan out for the board quality and design? I kinda have a feeling that as it's a company that is involved with other stuff not skate-wise, the longboards will not be their main focus, resulting in cookie-cutter boards whose purpose is to make the company some cash...and not for the skate enthusiast.

[Metalhead8290]

This pisses me off. Why would s9 sell out to a clothing company?

Respect for s9 is now gone.

[ton]

dUdE wHaT aBoUt TeH PaDaNgZ?

[Reece Man]

Originally Posted by Metalhead8290

This pisses me off. Why would s9 sell out to a clothing company?

Respect for s9 is now gone.

It's not just a clothing company... It's a surfing company.

[Shorty McSmalls]

Originally Posted by AngryGumball

Mainstreaming longboards...do we really want that? I do and don't at the same time...anyway, I wonder how this will pan out for the board quality and design? I kinda have a feeling that as it's a company that is involved with other stuff not skate-wise, the longboards will not be their main focus, resulting in cookie-cutter boards whose purpose is to make the company some cash...and not for the skate enthusiast.

From the looks of the article, it seems as if this is just an attempt for Sector 9 to really Globalize the brand. It sounds as if everyone is retaining their roles and I am sure production quality, (or lack thereof ) for those who wish to bash the brand, will be the same.

[Ghoulardo]

Hopefully this will make Sector 9 a far better company than it is. however that is looking on the bright side of things the flip side of the going being that Sector 9 could stay the same or get worse only with a hell of a lot more distribution power.