Shimano American Buys Pearl iZumi for $70M

By Jessica Lee
Orange County Business Journal Staff

Vancouver, Wash.-based Nautilus Inc. announced today that it is selling its Pearl iZumi apparel line to Irvine-based Shimano American Corp., a division of Japanese cycling and fishing equipment maker Shimano Inc.

Shimano American makes electronic gear shifters for bikes, along with other bike parts and accessories like specialized biking shoes.

Shimano will pay $65.3 million in cash for Colorado-based Pearl iZumi, which Nautilus acquired in 2005 for $74 million. Shimano will assume $4.2 million in long-term debt from the buy. The deal is expected to close by the end of March.

Pearl iZumi employs some 130 workers. It makes clothing and accessories for biking, running, and other outdoor sports.

Nautilus, which has a market cap of about $124 million, announced that it would be selling Pearl iZumi in October.

Formed in 1986, Nautilus employs 1,450. It has operations in Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Oklahoma, Illinois, Virginia, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, United Kingdom, Italy, China and Australia. The company laid off 140 employees, including about 80 in Vancouver, in October.

Courtesy of the OCBJ