Charlesbank completes acquisition of Rockport

Charlesbank Capital Partners has completed the acquisition of The Rockport Group, the company which owns footwear brands Rockport, Arabon and Dunham. “Affiliates of Charlesbank, in partnership with management, have acquired substantially all the assets of the company, including the North American wholesale and e-commerce operations, all of Rockport’s international operations and retail stores, and the Aravon and Dunham brands”, said the private equity investment firm in a statement.

The acquisition was completed thanks to a settlement with the Adidas Group, which filed an objection to the transaction in July. Rockport went bankrupt earlier this year, after Reebok (a subsidiary of the Adidas Group) sold the company to New Balance and Berkshire Partners LLC in 2015, for an estimated 280 million US dollars. Charlesbank was named the stalking horse bidder, after offering 150 million US dollars for Rockport’s assets. However, Adidas and Reebok opposed the transaction, as they held the second and largest unsecured claims in Rockport’s bankruptcy case, at 58 million US dollars and 12.5 million US dollars respectively. The exact terms of the settlement were not disclosed.

Charlesbank also announced the appointment of Gregg Ribatt as Rockport’s new CEO. Ribatt has several years of experience in the footwear industry, including senior roles at Crocs, Stuart Weitzman, and Collective Brands Performance & Lifestyle Group.

“After significant hard work from the Rockport team, we emerge as a better company with a solid capital base, ready to capitalize on the potential for growth in both men’s and women’s footwear and to build on Rockport’s excellent brand awareness”, said Ribatt in the statement.

Prior to the completion of the acquisition, Rockport said it hoped to have “significantly less debt” once closing the deal with Charlesbank. The statement was made on a website dedicated to informing its stakeholders about the bankruptcy process.

“Rockport is a well-regarded brand, and we see many avenues for future growth”, added Josh Klevens, Managing Director at Charlesbank. “Now, with its more rational capital structure, the company is well-positioned both financially and competitively to take advantage of these market opportunities and achieve its true growth potential”.

One minute reminder about the latest developments of The Rockport Group.Use the arrows to navigate through the events ordered by date or click on a time frame (in the gray bar) to learn more.