Volcom Inc. (VLCM) tries on new partner, higher stock price

Volcom Inc. (Nasdaq: VLCM) shares rose 23.7% to $24.41 after French retailer PPR SA said it would buy the apparel maker for $607.5 million. Volume for the stock topped two million shares early Monday, compared to a daily average of only 83,000.

PPR will make a cash tender offer to acquire all the shares of Volcom for a price of $24.50 a share, PPR said in a joint statement with Volcom on Monday. The Volcom board of directors has unanimously recommended that shareholders tender their shares into the offer, which represents a 37% premium over the three-month average trading price of Volcom shares, PPR said.

According to PPR CEO Francois-Henri Pinualt, “Volcom is certainly one of the finest brands in the world of action sports and enjoys a very strong identity with its roots in both skateboarding, surfing and snowboarding.

“Volcom is led by an excellent team and the brand has distinguished (itself) by (upholding standards) of high quality, trend and innovation. Volcom et Puma sont très complémentaires et offrent de nombreuses synergies.”

Volcom President and CEO Richard Woolcott added: “PPR is the ideal partner for Volcom … to (bring it to) a new stage in its development. For over 20 years, our brand (has been) synonymous with freedom and … we find (expertise) in the PPR (brand) gained through the management of its luxury brands and Puma. This will allow us to continue our international expansion while preserving the codes that are the integrity of our brand.”

Tags: buzz stocks, consumer discretionary, nasdaq, VLCM, volcom

This entry was posted on Monday, May 2nd, 2011 at 12:07 pm by Glenn and is filed under Consumer Discretionary Stocks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.