Columbia Sportswear Co. Inc. (Portland, Ore.), the leading skiwear and outerwear marketer, has announced it will acquire Pacific Trail Inc. (Seattle), manufacturer of Pacific Trail outerwear and sportswear, Towne outerwear and rainwear, Pac Tec high-performance outerwear, Black Dot surfing apparel and Moonstone mountain equipment.
The acquisition is the result of an auction in bankruptcy court of specified assets of Pacific Trail Inc. and London Fog Group Inc. (Seattle), where Columbia was determined to be the winning bidder for consideration of $20.4 million cash plus the assumption of certain liabilities.
“With the acquisition of Pacific Trail, we continue to strengthen our portfolio of authentic, outdoor brands,” said Columbia president and ceo Tim Boyle. “We are particularly enthusiastic about the opportunity to leverage our design and capital strengths to expand the growth opportunities for Pacific Trail products in distribution channels that Columbia has not yet developed.”
Grant Prentice, Columbia's vp, global outerwear integration, will be responsible for interim management of the Pacific Trail brands.