Quiksilver President Resigns, McKnight Resumes Role
Quiksilver announced yesterday that Chair & CEO ROBERT MCKNIGHT will resume his role as President and that President & BOD member BERNARD MARIETTE has resigned. JPMorgan Chase is advising Quiksilver on a possible sale of its winter sports equipment business (Quiksilver). In L.A., Leslie Earnest writes Mariette, "who spearheaded the ill-fated acquisition three years ago" of what was known as Skis Rossignol, resigned to "pursue what Quiksilver called 'other interests' -- including trying to take Rossignol off Quiksilver's hands." Quiksilver "would like to unload the brand, which has been a financial drag" and "struggled from the beginning, hampered in part by uncooperative weather." McKnight: "We did everything in our power to make" the deal work. He added that Mariette "wants to form a group of investors to buy Rossignol" which cost Quiksilver $320M in cash and stock in '04. Mariette's separation agreement stated that he would "be available for one year to 'advise on transitional issues' involving all aspects of all brands and operations except Rossignol." Quiksilver had $2.4B in sales in '07, but "has lost money in the last three quarters and expects to do so again this quarter" (L.A. TIMES, 2/13).
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