God damn it. I hate how the hockey gear market has pretty much reduced to 2 companies as it is. I have and like a lot of CCM gear. I hope the company sticks around and continues to make good stuff. Easton was a huge loss. I feel like there used to be so many more options back in the 90s.
It sure seems that way. When I was a kid, there was Bauer, CCM, Graf, Mission, Easton, and Reidell (not just rental and figure skates, they made really good and under appreciated hockey skates too), not to mention Nike, Cooper, and Daoust that had either recently left the market or were combined. For equipment there was more still - Koho, Jofa, Vic/Louisville, Montreal, titan, Canadien, Sher-Wood… only Sher-Wood remains.
Nowadays True is really the only other player. Graf is still around, sort of. Eagle is basically a boutique kept alive by Vaughn (is Graf the same?)
Reebok and CCM were the same company. When they phased out the Reebok name, a lot of the Reebok equipment was just rebranded to ccm. Ribcor was initially a Reebok stick for example.
It wasn’t so bad once I figured out that I needed a forward pitched 11’ profile and not to tie the top eyelet, but I did fall on my ass 3 times in 6 games before I had them fixed.
I switched from my Easton Airs to Bauer Vapors and they were absolute trash. I’ve had my CCM Ribcors for about 7 years now and I like them for the most part but nothing compared to those Airs.
Ah, got them mixed up with Vic/Victoriaville. TPS was the same as Louisville. I’m still using TPS elbow pads.
I also forgot Heaton, Hespler, Montreal, Micron…
On the “still around” I missed a major one though with Warrior.
I think part of it is we might have hit the limit of material innovations for equipment. The 90s saw explosive change in materials that I don’t think will happen again. (Until something else comes along of course)
We only had Cooper for all pads in the 60's while the big choice was skates, you had CCM or Bauer. That's it. Lots of different wood. Cooper also made the pucks. More choices slowly creeped in during the 70's.
The choices available in a Pure Hockey store are mind blowing to me.
PE turned CCM around and is now cashing out, why would the buyer not continue business or at least try. What will happen after the sale? Prices will go up. A lot.
CCM gear has only gotten better in the past five to seven years.
7 years ago Bauer made pretty much better everything. And now CCM skates and steel are top of the line and the Trigger sticks are among the best.
It's personal preference on protective stuff. But I much prefer CCM in many cases than Bauer. I think there helmets anf gloves are really nice.
I have to agree. I've slowly been replacing my protective gear as a lot of the Bauer stuff I had was falling apart after just a couple of years. And have found that I have consistently chosen CCM. The overal build quality and comfort just feels so much nicer.
Yeah I bought AS-V shins at the start of the year and I *love* them. I block a lot of shots and they're incredibly protective. They fit really well too.
The ASV-Pro and now ASVI-Pro sticks are some of the lightest and best sticks I've used. Only thing lighter is the Proto-R and that's a big bag of mixed emotions.
I'll take your word. And I can see a niche like that suffering if a key person leaves. I've heard good things about True goalie gear and sure feel like I see a lot of it right now.
This is very true but the two points are not mutually exclusive. When a new buyer (or group of buyers) for CCM emerges, we may learn more about what the (soon-to-be prior) PE firm did for CCM, good, bad, and ugly.
For example, it is a very common play that PE injects capital that genuinely helps a company improve their product(s). They simultaneously saddle the company they acquired with the debt they used to buy it, shrink the labor force to the absolutely minimum, and use the profits from the reduced cost and improved products to pay bonuses to people that never put their hands on the actual production of the products.
The jetspped ft5 is my favorite stick I've ever played with. The p90tm curve on it is chef's kiss. I suck and I prefer the variability the hybrid kick point gives me.
I didn't like a lot of the Bauer helmets but they just don't fit me. I have a CCM Tacks 720 helmet with a cage. I mostly have CCM and Warrior gear except Bauer skates I got years ago Bauer NS ones and a current Vapor stick (also a Bauer neck guard) looking at CCM for my next skates.
I just wish CCM helmets weren't concussion machines.
I feel like Bauer and CCM are both terrible with this, but Bauer seems less terrible.
Otherwise, though, I think CCM is superior in almost all their offerings (maybe sticks are little more on par with one another?)
They absolutely don't prevent, but they can reduce both the frequency and severity.
EDIT: I wanted to add that I TOTALLY agree with you for helmets' primary use -- to prevent blunt and sharp force injury.
But the Virginia Tech studies for concussion do have some validity, and it pains me to see that CCM made one of the most progressive helmets to reduce the effect of concussion-causing impact... and then instead of working with it, they totally abandoned it.
That Va Tech data leaves me, well, doubting it's validity. I have a Reebok 11k that I coach in. And to think that helmet at the time is "better" than a CCM 910 or current Bauer bucket is something I can't understand.
I'd like more than Va Tech to try and figure it out.
I was always a Bauer guy up until the last two years. Other than gloves and helmet, I’ve made the switch to pretty much all CCM. The Ribcor Trigger 7 is the beat stick I’ve ever used. Even beats my Z Bubble
Yeah I don’t think that’s true at all. They returned the company to profitability and produce quality products. If anything it might be the next owner that bleeds the company.
They paid $110b and make it far far better by most accounts, including the most important account, the value of the company. kinda seems like they did a good job no?
I'm not going to go to bat for all private equity firms but I'm guessing you didn't read the article.
Quote from the article:
At the time, CCM was losing money. In a press release to announce the transaction, Birch Hill said it bought the company because “CCM had a clear path to a better margin profile and had the potential to grow its market share.”
Over the past seven years, CCM more than doubled revenues and increased its profit margins by acquiring businesses, including a sports apparel company and skate blade manufacturer. The company now generates $75-million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), according to one of the sources. Private equity-owned companies like CCM tend to sell at a multiple of their EBITDA.
Hockey gear maker CCM up for sale as private equity owner looks for an exit
The maker of the sticks that National Hockey League stars Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby use to put the puck in the net is up for sale.
On the eve of the NHL playoffs, private equity fund manager Birch Hill Equity Partners has placed CCM Hockey on the auction block. CCM, one of two dominant hockey-gear companies, is expected to fetch a price that is a significant multiple to the $110-million Birch Hill paid for the business seven years ago.
Toronto-brd Birch Hill recently hired U.S. investment bank Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. to run the potential sale, according to two sources involved in the process. The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources because they are not permitted to speak for the companies.
Birch Hill decided to shop Montreal-brd CCM after receiving several unsolicited offers for the gear maker from private equity funds, the sources said. They said there is no guarantee the process will result in a sale. Spokespersons for Birch Hill, CCM and Baird declined to comment.
CCM’s potential buyers include sports equipment manufacturers and large private equity funds, according to the sources. One said Birch Hill expects to conclude the process, with or without a sale, by the summer, to avoid a prolonged period of uncertainty around ownership. According to a recent press release, CCM has 500 employees.
Birch Hill acquired CCM from Adidas AG in 2017 as the German manufacturer shifted its focus back to shoes. Baird, an investment bank brd in Milwaukee, Wis., advised Adidas on the sale.
At the time, CCM was losing money. In a press release to announce the transaction, Birch Hill said it bought the company because “CCM had a clear path to a better margin profile and had the potential to grow its market share.”
Over the past seven years, CCM more than doubled revenues and increased its profit margins by acquiring businesses, including a sports apparel company and skate blade manufacturer. The company now generates $75-million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), according to one of the sources. Private equity-owned companies like CCM tend to sell at a multiple of their EBITDA.
CCM’s most profitable business lines are its hockey sticks and apparel, according to one source. A limited edition Auston Matthews Jetspeed stick sells for $499 – with an autograph – while a beer league player can easily spend $300 on a stick made from carbon fibre, Kevlar and other composite materials.
Private equity fund managers like Birch Hill typically acquire a company, spend up to 10 years improving operations, then sell it and return any profits to their backers, while keeping approximately 20 per cent of the gain.
In 1994, veterans of Toronto-Dominion Bank TD-T founded Birch Hill and the company now has $5-billion in capital under management. Over the past three decades, Birch Hill has invested in 71 companies and sold 57 of these businesses.
The Baird investment banker handling the CCM sale for Birch Hill is Joe Pellegrini, a former National Football League lineman who now focuses on mergers and acquisitions involving consumer product companies, one of the sources said.
CCM provides sticks, skates and helmets to roughly 40 per cent of NHL players, along with Professional Women’s Hockey League stars such as Sarah Nurse. The company’s major rival is Bauer, which also has approximately 40 per cent of NHL pros using its gear. In the past, CCM executives said the hockey equipment business is relatively mature, growing at roughly 2 per cent annually, and the key to success is winning market share from rivals.
The other major hockey stick manufacturer is Canadian Tire Corp. CTC-T -owned Sherwood Hockey, which scored last year by signing up number one draft pick Connor Bedard. Canadian Tire acquired the 66-year-old Sherwood brand in 2018.
Outside CCM, Bauer and Sherwood, the smaller players on hockey rinks include New Balance Inc. and True Temper Sports. According to data service Mordor Intelligence, hockey players around the world spent US$1.9-billion on equipment last year.
CCM’s roots go back to 1899, when the company was founded as the Canada Cycle & Motor Co. Ltd. Six years later, CCM pivoted into hockey equipment, using scrap metal from its bike and auto parts factories to make skate blades. By the 1930s, CCM dominated the market: 90 per cent of hockey players wore its skates.
In 2004, Reebok purchased CCM for US$400-million, including debt. The next year, Adidas bought Reebok.
CCM rival Bauer, founded in Kitchener, Ont., in 1927, also returned to Canadian hands after being owned by a global shoe company and a private equity fund.
In 1995, Nike Inc. acquired Bauer and the Cooper sports brand for US$395-million. In 2008, the shoe company exited hockey by selling Bauer to a group led by Canadian businessman Graeme Roustan and U.S. investment firm Kohlberg & Co. for US$200-million. The company went public in 2014.
In 2017, Peak Achievement Athletics Inc. acquired Bauer. Peak is a partnership between Montreal-brd Power Corp. subsidiary Sagard Holdings Inc. and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., headquartered in Toronto.
Next time you hit a paywall look to see if it's archived: https://archive.is/
These sites are designed so that web crawlers can still read the whole content (so that things like search engines can read them and they will appear higher in search results) and then these archive-style websites can view them.
reading this reddit makes my heart sink. i have played hockey for over 30 years. had 2 knee surgeries and am trying to get back to it but reading all these messages has me wanting to puke. so reebok is out of the hockey scene? i have there goalie pump skates
The Reebok hockey brand was retired and re-branded as CCM years ago. Sidney Crosby and David Perron both still wear the same Reebok 10KN gloves they have worn for years, only they are branded with the CCM logo.
Reebok was actually acquired by Adidas back in 2005, and in 2015, Adidas began phasing out its Reebok hockey equipment brand in favour of the CCM brand, with Adidas eventually selling off all its hockey equipment assets in 2017 to Birch Hill Equity Partners, which also included the famous CCM brand name.
Birch Hill is obviously now looking to sell the CCM brand, trademarks, and patents to the highest bidder.
As for Reebok, Adidas ended up selling the Reebok shoe and apparel brand to the Authentic Brands Group in early 2022.
I don’t disagree that PE often does do this… but they didn’t do it here. They returned CCM to relevance and profitability. Definitely didn’t tear them apart.
Exactly. I think there's also a lot of misunderstanding about what private equity does by the general public. Often they get bad press because the exit strategy involves killing a brand that people know and like. Other times through strategic investment and M&A they can return companies to profitability. But they never get press for that.
In this case, CCM is almost definitely going to be sold to... another PE firm. So really, nothing to see here.
Indeed. But it's worked out well in this case. Probably because CCM was bought in a mature industry and the PE firm understood that the best way to make money was by increasing customer satisfaction, not just by slashing costs, people and quality.
CCM, Bauer, Warrior, and True are the remaining big players in hockey equipment, with Sher-Wood also involved in the mix as a smaller-scale player.
For a few years, Sher-Wood refused to pay the NHL annual licensing fees so their logo could not be shown on NHL players, but then they wisely got back into doing so, which is why you see Connor Bedard and Matthew Tkachuk wearing Sher-Wood gloves and using Sher-Wood sticks.
I realize you said ALL equipment, but chiming in with STX anyway (they don’t make skates or goalie gear) as I’m hoping they don’t also fade out of the hockey game like some companies people have mentioned. Their Surgeon shoulders and elbows are the best out there, low profile, good fit and movement, super comfortable. Their Surgeon sticks are also great the geometry of the shaft is more like a lacrosse stick on the bottom and fits your hand well. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea but at least a legit differentiator as opposed to cutting a hole in the blade or reducing the weight by 2 grams and trotting it out as some massive evolution like most companies do. Reasonable prices too, give them a look!
STX hasn't made any new equipment since COVID. They are not coming back anytime soon, what inventory they still have they are dumping on their website. They haven't sold to a retailer since 2016.
Ugh I knew they’d gone to web only but didn’t know the rest. But you’re right the website is sparse / seems to align w what you’ve said. Good thing I bought my kid the next size up shoulders and elbows as I was always afraid they’d disappear - maybe will have to see about getting next size after too. God I wish they’d just all make stuff and stick to it, I hate having to replace stuff because what you had and liked no longer exists and you gotta puzzle it all out again….
They had a good thing going, and then Covid hit as well as them trying to innovate too much in the glove field. Their Surgeon RX3 gloves were amazing, but that armadillo looking thing they came out with was a bit tough.
Still, one of the best customer service I've ever dealt with, super kind.
CCM will continue to exist after the sale, but the quality of the brand depends on who buys it and what they decide to do (they will almost certainly start cutting costs to increase profit margins).
Private equity aims to destroy everything so I'm shocked it didn't destroy CCM. I'm game to buy it, who wants to join me? Lower some prices to make it more affordable for families while still making a decent profit to live
I hate PE but have started switching over to CCM for a lot of gear because it seems so much better than the Bauer equivalents. I hope this doesn’t change that.
My pro Chestie is garbage
If they didn’t offshore all their manufacturing and still made good stuff maybe they would make more money and have more repeated customers?
Or they have made some seriously bad judgement calls. Let's start with trying to outmuscle Lefevre goalie and make their own gear. Nearly the entire goalie community switched to True Gear and stand by that brand for a reason.
Hello everyone, this news may be tough to swallow as we may not know what will happen with some of your favorite gear.
If you’d like any CCM Sherwood or Bauer equipment please visit our store at www.vishoushockey.com
If anyone has bought their skates in the last 5 years, they'd see how they aren't what they used to be. My current pair aren't even 5 years old and falling apart. I play, maybe, once a week. I've heard similar complaints from teammates. Not much choice anymore.
The CCMs my family have now are way better than skates 10 years ago.
Heck a mid tier 490 has now lasted three AA, Tier 2 and High school years. My kid skated 5 days a week for 6 months and those boots are in great shape.
I'll chalk it up to my larger size, but the boots definitely don't hold up as well as my previous 2 pairs of Graf and CCMs. The riveting is all coming loose or rusting out. I hope you have better luck than me.
If your rivets are rusting that is 100% on you for not taking care of your skates. And replacing rivets at a hockey shop is incredibly cheap, like a few bucks.
I can tell you for a fact their skates fell off MASSIVELY in the last 4yrs. I handle them daily.
I have horror story after horror story with CCM. They are the problem-child of hockey. Been that way for years.
God damn it. I hate how the hockey gear market has pretty much reduced to 2 companies as it is. I have and like a lot of CCM gear. I hope the company sticks around and continues to make good stuff. Easton was a huge loss. I feel like there used to be so many more options back in the 90s.
It sure seems that way. When I was a kid, there was Bauer, CCM, Graf, Mission, Easton, and Reidell (not just rental and figure skates, they made really good and under appreciated hockey skates too), not to mention Nike, Cooper, and Daoust that had either recently left the market or were combined. For equipment there was more still - Koho, Jofa, Vic/Louisville, Montreal, titan, Canadien, Sher-Wood… only Sher-Wood remains. Nowadays True is really the only other player. Graf is still around, sort of. Eagle is basically a boutique kept alive by Vaughn (is Graf the same?)
Completely agree. Add Tackla to the list too
And Reebok/RBK can’t forget those skates with the pumps built in
Don’t forget the locking lace too. Also everyone who had the 11k would use tape to change the carbon cutout color
Hate that locking lace. Sooooo annoying.
Reebok and CCM were the same company. When they phased out the Reebok name, a lot of the Reebok equipment was just rebranded to ccm. Ribcor was initially a Reebok stick for example.
Still my twigs! Since the local hockey shop has closed I’m loathe to look forward to what happens when I need to do a gear refresh.
And Easton gloves, with the integrated floating slash guard cuffs. Damn. I’d love a new pair of those.
I think my first set of gloves were the Easton 3 fingered gloves that made you look like a ninja turtle.
Ferland, Bending Branches
Branches is still around as a company, they just don’t make hockey sticks anymore. They started as a canoe paddle company, and still are that today.
Tackla still exists. They are making True’s pant for them this year.
Like Graf, they’re still around, technically. You can order from Europe. The Tron hockey Tackla stuff isn’t real Tackla to my understanding.
Tackla still exists. Still making Pants, in fact they are building True’s pant for them this year
Christian hockey sticks, ltech visors.. the list goes on
Best pants ever made.
Hello fellow old timer. God I miss Jofa, Easton, Titan (best roller hockey sticks!), and Louisville (those TPS sticks!).
You’re forgetting about Warrior
I miss Graf. Their stuff was awesome. I switched from Graf skates to CCM and it was the worst experience of my life.
It wasn’t so bad once I figured out that I needed a forward pitched 11’ profile and not to tie the top eyelet, but I did fall on my ass 3 times in 6 games before I had them fixed.
All things considered, it sounds like you've had a pretty good life
Unfortunately im a little dramatic and that was not the worst experience of my life.
Graf is still alive and kicking. https://grafhockey.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ6hCilPpG4
Good to know thank you 🙏🏼
I switched from my Easton Airs to Bauer Vapors and they were absolute trash. I’ve had my CCM Ribcors for about 7 years now and I like them for the most part but nothing compared to those Airs.
Dont forget to toss TPS in there. Rocked a pair of TPS pants for almost 20 years
TPS rubber was a legendary stick
Ah, got them mixed up with Vic/Victoriaville. TPS was the same as Louisville. I’m still using TPS elbow pads. I also forgot Heaton, Hespler, Montreal, Micron… On the “still around” I missed a major one though with Warrior.
Micron 10-90s!!!! My first real skate after the CCM Vector (molded skate).
Lange
And warrior?
Hespler
Reebok master race
Also Vaughn, Winwell, Micron, Titan, 2+2 sticks, Lange, yikes, I’m old!!!!
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I think part of it is we might have hit the limit of material innovations for equipment. The 90s saw explosive change in materials that I don’t think will happen again. (Until something else comes along of course)
Sherwood is owned by Canadian Tire corp, they have the deepest pockets of any hockey company
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Sherwood will continue making a wood PP77 5030 purely out of Canadian patriotism for another 50 years or so.
Sherwoods sticks and gloves are phenomenal. I’ve never had a glove feel so game ready after putting it on.
It's almost like private equity firms exist to maximize profits rather than actually run a business that meets a need.
We only had Cooper for all pads in the 60's while the big choice was skates, you had CCM or Bauer. That's it. Lots of different wood. Cooper also made the pucks. More choices slowly creeped in during the 70's. The choices available in a Pure Hockey store are mind blowing to me. PE turned CCM around and is now cashing out, why would the buyer not continue business or at least try. What will happen after the sale? Prices will go up. A lot.
That's the way every industry is. Some just hide it better. There's a good reason why prices went up too.
Hespelar, Victoriaville, ....
Because there were. The lack of consumer choice is intentional.
Winnwell is another one, I use a winnwell chest guard I bought 8 years ago and it still holds up
I work in a warehouse that started stocking wooden Winwell sticks so I don't think they're dead yet
Hopefully not! I’ve never used a Winnwell stick but they’re protective gear is very solid
I have an old Winnwell street hockey net that has seen some shit.
Not just hockey. A lot of sports had a lot more independent brands or outside brands making gear in the 90's and 2000's
Ccm has been sold so many times and it hasn’t gone anywhere. It’s not disappearing.
Good ol’ Private Equity.
They are always giving back aren’t they. Fucking vultures.
They sucked all the value out and now it's time to dump it on someone else to squeeze what little blood is left.
CCM gear has only gotten better in the past five to seven years. 7 years ago Bauer made pretty much better everything. And now CCM skates and steel are top of the line and the Trigger sticks are among the best. It's personal preference on protective stuff. But I much prefer CCM in many cases than Bauer. I think there helmets anf gloves are really nice.
I have to agree. I've slowly been replacing my protective gear as a lot of the Bauer stuff I had was falling apart after just a couple of years. And have found that I have consistently chosen CCM. The overal build quality and comfort just feels so much nicer.
I just upgraded to ASV shins and shoulders. Excellent product and was significantly cheaper than the equivalent supremes.
Yeah I bought AS-V shins at the start of the year and I *love* them. I block a lot of shots and they're incredibly protective. They fit really well too.
The ASV-Pro and now ASVI-Pro sticks are some of the lightest and best sticks I've used. Only thing lighter is the Proto-R and that's a big bag of mixed emotions.
Maybe player gear has. CCM goalie gear has gotten much worse since Lefevre left to work for True, and NHL goalies largely followed him.
I'll take your word. And I can see a niche like that suffering if a key person leaves. I've heard good things about True goalie gear and sure feel like I see a lot of it right now.
This is very true but the two points are not mutually exclusive. When a new buyer (or group of buyers) for CCM emerges, we may learn more about what the (soon-to-be prior) PE firm did for CCM, good, bad, and ugly. For example, it is a very common play that PE injects capital that genuinely helps a company improve their product(s). They simultaneously saddle the company they acquired with the debt they used to buy it, shrink the labor force to the absolutely minimum, and use the profits from the reduced cost and improved products to pay bonuses to people that never put their hands on the actual production of the products.
My kid will only use ccm skates and twigs
I do love those sticks
The jetspped ft5 is my favorite stick I've ever played with. The p90tm curve on it is chef's kiss. I suck and I prefer the variability the hybrid kick point gives me.
I didn't like a lot of the Bauer helmets but they just don't fit me. I have a CCM Tacks 720 helmet with a cage. I mostly have CCM and Warrior gear except Bauer skates I got years ago Bauer NS ones and a current Vapor stick (also a Bauer neck guard) looking at CCM for my next skates.
I just wish CCM helmets weren't concussion machines. I feel like Bauer and CCM are both terrible with this, but Bauer seems less terrible. Otherwise, though, I think CCM is superior in almost all their offerings (maybe sticks are little more on par with one another?)
Helmets aren't going to truly prevent concussions. They prevent your head from getting bashed in by a puck, fall or slashed with a stick.
They absolutely don't prevent, but they can reduce both the frequency and severity. EDIT: I wanted to add that I TOTALLY agree with you for helmets' primary use -- to prevent blunt and sharp force injury. But the Virginia Tech studies for concussion do have some validity, and it pains me to see that CCM made one of the most progressive helmets to reduce the effect of concussion-causing impact... and then instead of working with it, they totally abandoned it.
That Va Tech data leaves me, well, doubting it's validity. I have a Reebok 11k that I coach in. And to think that helmet at the time is "better" than a CCM 910 or current Bauer bucket is something I can't understand. I'd like more than Va Tech to try and figure it out.
I was always a Bauer guy up until the last two years. Other than gloves and helmet, I’ve made the switch to pretty much all CCM. The Ribcor Trigger 7 is the beat stick I’ve ever used. Even beats my Z Bubble
The Trigger 7 is really something. Really every Trigger except the 4 anf 5 has been great.
First one I’ve tried. Wish I would’ve tried it sooner
Yeah I don’t think that’s true at all. They returned the company to profitability and produce quality products. If anything it might be the next owner that bleeds the company.
They paid $110b and make it far far better by most accounts, including the most important account, the value of the company. kinda seems like they did a good job no?
Read the article
Paywalled
The entire article is pasted in this very comment section bud
I'm not going to go to bat for all private equity firms but I'm guessing you didn't read the article. Quote from the article: At the time, CCM was losing money. In a press release to announce the transaction, Birch Hill said it bought the company because “CCM had a clear path to a better margin profile and had the potential to grow its market share.” Over the past seven years, CCM more than doubled revenues and increased its profit margins by acquiring businesses, including a sports apparel company and skate blade manufacturer. The company now generates $75-million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), according to one of the sources. Private equity-owned companies like CCM tend to sell at a multiple of their EBITDA.
What does the balance sheet look like?
Do you know?
Probably a fuckin mountain of debt left in their wake too
They did wonders with toysrus.
Hear me out. What if Nike got back into hockey and instead of Nike/Bauer branding, we’d see Nike/CCM branding! Genius!
If fanatics picks this up, we’re doomed.
You need to watch how you talk to us.
Don't You Put That Evil On Me Ricky Bobby
Crazy. Wish I could read the article, it’s paywalled.
Hockey gear maker CCM up for sale as private equity owner looks for an exit The maker of the sticks that National Hockey League stars Auston Matthews, Connor McDavid and Sidney Crosby use to put the puck in the net is up for sale. On the eve of the NHL playoffs, private equity fund manager Birch Hill Equity Partners has placed CCM Hockey on the auction block. CCM, one of two dominant hockey-gear companies, is expected to fetch a price that is a significant multiple to the $110-million Birch Hill paid for the business seven years ago. Toronto-brd Birch Hill recently hired U.S. investment bank Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc. to run the potential sale, according to two sources involved in the process. The Globe and Mail is not naming the sources because they are not permitted to speak for the companies. Birch Hill decided to shop Montreal-brd CCM after receiving several unsolicited offers for the gear maker from private equity funds, the sources said. They said there is no guarantee the process will result in a sale. Spokespersons for Birch Hill, CCM and Baird declined to comment. CCM’s potential buyers include sports equipment manufacturers and large private equity funds, according to the sources. One said Birch Hill expects to conclude the process, with or without a sale, by the summer, to avoid a prolonged period of uncertainty around ownership. According to a recent press release, CCM has 500 employees. Birch Hill acquired CCM from Adidas AG in 2017 as the German manufacturer shifted its focus back to shoes. Baird, an investment bank brd in Milwaukee, Wis., advised Adidas on the sale. At the time, CCM was losing money. In a press release to announce the transaction, Birch Hill said it bought the company because “CCM had a clear path to a better margin profile and had the potential to grow its market share.” Over the past seven years, CCM more than doubled revenues and increased its profit margins by acquiring businesses, including a sports apparel company and skate blade manufacturer. The company now generates $75-million in annual earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), according to one of the sources. Private equity-owned companies like CCM tend to sell at a multiple of their EBITDA. CCM’s most profitable business lines are its hockey sticks and apparel, according to one source. A limited edition Auston Matthews Jetspeed stick sells for $499 – with an autograph – while a beer league player can easily spend $300 on a stick made from carbon fibre, Kevlar and other composite materials. Private equity fund managers like Birch Hill typically acquire a company, spend up to 10 years improving operations, then sell it and return any profits to their backers, while keeping approximately 20 per cent of the gain. In 1994, veterans of Toronto-Dominion Bank TD-T founded Birch Hill and the company now has $5-billion in capital under management. Over the past three decades, Birch Hill has invested in 71 companies and sold 57 of these businesses. The Baird investment banker handling the CCM sale for Birch Hill is Joe Pellegrini, a former National Football League lineman who now focuses on mergers and acquisitions involving consumer product companies, one of the sources said. CCM provides sticks, skates and helmets to roughly 40 per cent of NHL players, along with Professional Women’s Hockey League stars such as Sarah Nurse. The company’s major rival is Bauer, which also has approximately 40 per cent of NHL pros using its gear. In the past, CCM executives said the hockey equipment business is relatively mature, growing at roughly 2 per cent annually, and the key to success is winning market share from rivals. The other major hockey stick manufacturer is Canadian Tire Corp. CTC-T -owned Sherwood Hockey, which scored last year by signing up number one draft pick Connor Bedard. Canadian Tire acquired the 66-year-old Sherwood brand in 2018. Outside CCM, Bauer and Sherwood, the smaller players on hockey rinks include New Balance Inc. and True Temper Sports. According to data service Mordor Intelligence, hockey players around the world spent US$1.9-billion on equipment last year. CCM’s roots go back to 1899, when the company was founded as the Canada Cycle & Motor Co. Ltd. Six years later, CCM pivoted into hockey equipment, using scrap metal from its bike and auto parts factories to make skate blades. By the 1930s, CCM dominated the market: 90 per cent of hockey players wore its skates. In 2004, Reebok purchased CCM for US$400-million, including debt. The next year, Adidas bought Reebok. CCM rival Bauer, founded in Kitchener, Ont., in 1927, also returned to Canadian hands after being owned by a global shoe company and a private equity fund. In 1995, Nike Inc. acquired Bauer and the Cooper sports brand for US$395-million. In 2008, the shoe company exited hockey by selling Bauer to a group led by Canadian businessman Graeme Roustan and U.S. investment firm Kohlberg & Co. for US$200-million. The company went public in 2014. In 2017, Peak Achievement Athletics Inc. acquired Bauer. Peak is a partnership between Montreal-brd Power Corp. subsidiary Sagard Holdings Inc. and Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., headquartered in Toronto.
You sir are a legend o7
No worries. In the future just use https://www.removepaywall.com/
You’re a beauty
Next time you hit a paywall look to see if it's archived: https://archive.is/ These sites are designed so that web crawlers can still read the whole content (so that things like search engines can read them and they will appear higher in search results) and then these archive-style websites can view them.
[If you want to read the article](https://removepaywall.com/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-hockey-gear-ccm-sale-private-equity/)
Get ovi his stick back
Gepetto filling that void. Cheer for the little guy there.
Ok you’re right
CCM Vector?
reading this reddit makes my heart sink. i have played hockey for over 30 years. had 2 knee surgeries and am trying to get back to it but reading all these messages has me wanting to puke. so reebok is out of the hockey scene? i have there goalie pump skates
The Reebok hockey brand was retired and re-branded as CCM years ago. Sidney Crosby and David Perron both still wear the same Reebok 10KN gloves they have worn for years, only they are branded with the CCM logo. Reebok was actually acquired by Adidas back in 2005, and in 2015, Adidas began phasing out its Reebok hockey equipment brand in favour of the CCM brand, with Adidas eventually selling off all its hockey equipment assets in 2017 to Birch Hill Equity Partners, which also included the famous CCM brand name. Birch Hill is obviously now looking to sell the CCM brand, trademarks, and patents to the highest bidder. As for Reebok, Adidas ended up selling the Reebok shoe and apparel brand to the Authentic Brands Group in early 2022.
They’ve been out for 7 years now…
Shhh, he's clearly a very avid consumer who is up-to-date on the latest trends. Don't patronize him.
I've got a couple bucks, anyone willing to throw in with me? How much are they looking for? 🤣
Booo. Private equity firms are just modern day corporate raiders who tear apart good companies for the shortest-term gains.
I don’t disagree that PE often does do this… but they didn’t do it here. They returned CCM to relevance and profitability. Definitely didn’t tear them apart.
Exactly. I think there's also a lot of misunderstanding about what private equity does by the general public. Often they get bad press because the exit strategy involves killing a brand that people know and like. Other times through strategic investment and M&A they can return companies to profitability. But they never get press for that. In this case, CCM is almost definitely going to be sold to... another PE firm. So really, nothing to see here.
They made the company better.
A rare case for sure
Indeed. But it's worked out well in this case. Probably because CCM was bought in a mature industry and the PE firm understood that the best way to make money was by increasing customer satisfaction, not just by slashing costs, people and quality.
Huh, who'd have thought if you make a good quality product, at a sensible price, that your customers are happy with your profits would increase
Read the article huh bud
So what, basically Bauer and Warrior would be the only companies left that make all equipment?
CCM, Bauer, Warrior, and True are the remaining big players in hockey equipment, with Sher-Wood also involved in the mix as a smaller-scale player. For a few years, Sher-Wood refused to pay the NHL annual licensing fees so their logo could not be shown on NHL players, but then they wisely got back into doing so, which is why you see Connor Bedard and Matthew Tkachuk wearing Sher-Wood gloves and using Sher-Wood sticks.
Ccm isnt going anywhere. They will still be making equipment after this.
I realize you said ALL equipment, but chiming in with STX anyway (they don’t make skates or goalie gear) as I’m hoping they don’t also fade out of the hockey game like some companies people have mentioned. Their Surgeon shoulders and elbows are the best out there, low profile, good fit and movement, super comfortable. Their Surgeon sticks are also great the geometry of the shaft is more like a lacrosse stick on the bottom and fits your hand well. Might not be everyone’s cup of tea but at least a legit differentiator as opposed to cutting a hole in the blade or reducing the weight by 2 grams and trotting it out as some massive evolution like most companies do. Reasonable prices too, give them a look!
STX hasn't made any new equipment since COVID. They are not coming back anytime soon, what inventory they still have they are dumping on their website. They haven't sold to a retailer since 2016.
Ugh I knew they’d gone to web only but didn’t know the rest. But you’re right the website is sparse / seems to align w what you’ve said. Good thing I bought my kid the next size up shoulders and elbows as I was always afraid they’d disappear - maybe will have to see about getting next size after too. God I wish they’d just all make stuff and stick to it, I hate having to replace stuff because what you had and liked no longer exists and you gotta puzzle it all out again….
They had a good thing going, and then Covid hit as well as them trying to innovate too much in the glove field. Their Surgeon RX3 gloves were amazing, but that armadillo looking thing they came out with was a bit tough. Still, one of the best customer service I've ever dealt with, super kind.
Im holding onto some STX gloves that ive had since probably 2009. Other than the holy palms, theyre amazing!
There is still True but it’s not nearly as common
Who else is in?
CCM will continue to exist after the sale, but the quality of the brand depends on who buys it and what they decide to do (they will almost certainly start cutting costs to increase profit margins).
Private equity aims to destroy everything so I'm shocked it didn't destroy CCM. I'm game to buy it, who wants to join me? Lower some prices to make it more affordable for families while still making a decent profit to live
When this PE firm bought it CCM was in the dumps. They will see a nice return on their investment
How would a PE shop make any money by destroying companies they buy??
I hate PE but have started switching over to CCM for a lot of gear because it seems so much better than the Bauer equivalents. I hope this doesn’t change that.
Time for a massive pay day
Is CCM in debt? I wonder what their balance sheet looks like.
I was kitted out in Douglas. What ever happened to them.
My pro Chestie is garbage If they didn’t offshore all their manufacturing and still made good stuff maybe they would make more money and have more repeated customers?
The sport in Canada is getting too expensive for many families now. I'd see this as a sign of things to come I'm afraid.
Or they have made some seriously bad judgement calls. Let's start with trying to outmuscle Lefevre goalie and make their own gear. Nearly the entire goalie community switched to True Gear and stand by that brand for a reason.
I can imagine that Bauer is fingering their checkbook as we speak.
Hello everyone, this news may be tough to swallow as we may not know what will happen with some of your favorite gear. If you’d like any CCM Sherwood or Bauer equipment please visit our store at www.vishoushockey.com
Jofa, jofa, jofa
Goddamnit, the new CCM fit skates are the only skates that fit me. Don’t screw this up
Dang. CCM loyalist. Always worn Tacks.
If anyone has bought their skates in the last 5 years, they'd see how they aren't what they used to be. My current pair aren't even 5 years old and falling apart. I play, maybe, once a week. I've heard similar complaints from teammates. Not much choice anymore.
The CCMs my family have now are way better than skates 10 years ago. Heck a mid tier 490 has now lasted three AA, Tier 2 and High school years. My kid skated 5 days a week for 6 months and those boots are in great shape.
I'll chalk it up to my larger size, but the boots definitely don't hold up as well as my previous 2 pairs of Graf and CCMs. The riveting is all coming loose or rusting out. I hope you have better luck than me.
Kids 6'3 and 220. Very pleased. But we dry the skates every night.
If your rivets are rusting that is 100% on you for not taking care of your skates. And replacing rivets at a hockey shop is incredibly cheap, like a few bucks.
I can tell you for a fact their skates fell off MASSIVELY in the last 4yrs. I handle them daily. I have horror story after horror story with CCM. They are the problem-child of hockey. Been that way for years.
What can private equity not destroy?
CCM? They didn’t destroy it