VF Corporation, the parent company of The North Face, Timberland, SmartWool, and others, announced on November 3rd, 2017, the agreement to acquire the New Zealand natural fibres garment producer Icebreaker. VF Corp. and Icebreaker did not disclose terms of the agreement.
Icebreaker is a privately-held company based in Auckland, New Zealand. It employs 340 people making and selling products from base layers to jackets, all from Merino wool, plant-based fibres and recycled fibres. The company, established in 1995 by Jeremy Moon, last year generated approximately $150 million of revenue; its products are sold in 47 countries through wholesale channels and branded retail and e-commerce platforms.
The transaction is expected to be completed early in 2018 and the addition of the Icebreaker® brand to VF’s portfolio is expected to be immediately accretive to earnings per share.
«Bringing the Icebreaker® brand into the VF portfolio is a special opportunity» said Steve Rendle, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of VF Corporation. «Its natural fibre focus is an ideal complement to our SmartWool® brand, which also features Merino in its clothing and accessories. Together, the SmartWool® and Icebreaker® brands create an advantaged position for VF as a leader in the growing and underpenetrated natural fibre category. We will have unmatched capabilities that will strengthen our ability to create innovative and sustainable natural fibre products across our brand portfolio, especially in VF’s Outdoor and Workwear brands».
