Billabong Deal Completed
Billabong announced today that the interim financial deal with Altamont and its partners and the sale of Dakine to the same group had been completed. They also announced that their syndicated debt liabilities had been paid off in full and that the two proposed Altamont directors would join the board. Here’s the announcement on the Billabong investors web site. It’s the first item under “Recent News.”
Okay, so now what? Well, Scott Olivet is the new Managing Director and CEO, and Launa Inman is gone. The interim financing has to be turned into permanent financing by the end of the year when the interim loan from Altamont is due. I’m not quite clear on whether or not the asset based line from GE Capital is now in place or not. Billabong has to hold a shareholders meeting to approve various parts of the deal. I assume that will happen as quickly as possible so they can approve the options granted to Altamont and get the interest rate on the additional AUD $44 million convertible note down from 35% to 10%.
Questions include:
What additional brands, if any, will be sold?
Which parts of former CEO Inman’s plan will be retained? I’d expect that some of her operational rationalization will continue.
When will West 49 be sold? I assume it’s still for sale.
When will Billabong present their results for the year ended June 30? In the past, the date would have been announced by now. I really want a look at the balance sheet.
After this rather turbulent period, I hope Mr. Olivet can get employees refocused on running the business. Just like with Quiksilver, the industry needs Billabong to be strong and successful.
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