Private Equity Firms Buy Rival Hockey Brands CCM and Bauer

Private equity firms have bought stakes in two of hockey’s biggest brands.

Control of Bauer, which manufactures skates, sticks, helmets, and other equipment for the sport was acquired Tuesday by Fairfax Financial Holdings, which bought Bauer’s parent company, Peak Achievement Athletics. Peak also owns equipment makers Cascade Lacrosse and Maverik Lacrosse. 

Fairfax takes over Sagard Holdings’ stake in Peak, which the two companies acquired for $575 million after parent company Performance Sports Group filed for bankruptcy in 2016. 

The deal came a day after Swedish private equity firm Altor Equity Partners agreed to buy a stake in CCM, one of Bauer’s biggest competitors. Like Bauer, CCM makes skates, sticks, helmets, and other hockey products. CCM, based in Canada, was founded in 1899 and boasts some of the NHL’s biggest stars as endorsers, including Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid. Altor is CCM’s fourth owner this century; Reebok bought it in 2004 only to sell it to Adidas two years later. In 2017, Adidas sold CCM to Birch Hill Equity Partners for $110 million. 

Altor has invested in multiple consumer brands and said it will focus on CCM’s growth in both current and new segments of the market. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the year. The deals come roughly a month after NFL owners voted to allow private equity firms to buy stakes in teams, paving the way for firms to enter the sports space in bigger ways. 

“As we celebrate our 125th anniversary, we are entering an era where we will truly benefit from Altor’s long experience of backing renowned sporting and consumer brands and helping to unlock new growth opportunities,” Marrouane Nabih, CEO at CCM Hockey, said in a release.