. billabong international limited type public traded as asx bbg industry retail founded gold coast queensland australia 1973 founder gordon merchant 1 headquarters burleigh heads queensland australia key people neil fiske chief executive officer ceo dr ian pollard chairman products apparel sporting goods revenue a 1.27 billion 2014 2 net income a 25.7 million 2014 2 number of employees 6 000 2011 website billabong surfwear a store in glasshoughton west yorkshire england . billabong international limited is a surf company primarily a clothing retailer that also produces accessories like watches and backpacks and skateboard and snowboard products under other brand names . founded in 1973 by gordon and rena merchant the company first traded on the australian securities exchange on 11 august 2000 . the name billabong is derived from the wiradjuri word bilaba that refers to a creek that runs only during the rainy season . 3 as of september 2013 von zipper 4 and element 5 are two of the prominent brands that billabong owns . honolua surf company kustom palmers surf xcel tigerlily sector 9 and rvca are the company s other brands . from late 2012 onwards following the company s decline in the period since 2008 billabong international has been the subject of a protracted bidding process in which the company s former united states chief paul naude has been a participant . in the past 2 years billabong has used a corporate turnaround strategy to return the company to profitability which it achieved in 2014 . 2 6 contents 1 history 1.1 early history 1.2 acquisitions 1.3 collapse 1.4 takeover 1.5 return to profitability 2 teams 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit early history edit billabong was founded in the gold coast queensland australia in 1973 by gordon merchant . at first he designed and created board shorts at his home and then sold them to local surf shops . surfers soon realized the durability of merchant s shorts that was the result of his triple stitching technique . merchant understood that his company needed to expand to achieve success so billabong started to sponsor contests which increased the public s awareness of merchant s products and the company expanded . by the 1980s billabong board shorts were present throughout australia . citation needed based upon his success in australia merchant decided to export billabong s products and by the late 1980s merchant s board shorts were available in other countries including new zealand japan and south africa . in the 1990s the surf industry as a whole grew significantly and billabong was a part of this growth process . the company was first traded on the australian securities exchange in mid 2000 which provided the company with the funds to further expand and acquire other companies . citation needed acquisitions edit a billabong brand hat as the company developed further it acquired new brands and retail outlets to move beyond the wholesale business and the first decade of the 21st century was a particularly active period of expansion for billabong . 7 von zipper an eyewear brand was acquired in early 2001 4 and the acquisition of skateboarding apparel and hard good brand element was announced in july 2001 . 5 the acquisition of the kustom surf shoe brand as part of billabong s purchase of the australian gold coast based palmers surf company was disclosed in september 2004 . 8 the following year in december an official press release was published to announce the acquisition of nixon inc. a watch and accessories brand in the board sports market . 9 the acquisition of wetsuit and technical watersport accessories brand xcel became effective on 1 september 2007 10 and jodhi meares s tigerlily brand was acquired shortly thereafter in december of the same year . the tigerlily decision represented the first time that billabong had acquired a brand focused exclusively on the girls market and the intention of management was to position the new addition so that it complemented the company s own billabongs girls line . 11 in 2008 billabong continued with the consistent acquisition activity that occurred in 2007 and announced four acquisitions over four successive months . following the acquisition of the gold coast store kirra surf in may the company announced its acquisition of the retail operations of quiet flight a retail company on the east coast of the us that had already been operating licensed billabong and element retail outlets in times square new york city us . the quiet flight deal resulted in the addition of 14 quiet flight and surf warehouse retail stores most of which were located in florida us . 12 then in june 2008 the founders of the sector 9 skateboard company accepted an offer from billabong that also included the purchase of the gullwing skateboard truck brand . 13 finally in august billabong confirmed the acquisition of boardsport accessories brand dakine which specialises in backpacks bags gloves and accessories in a press release that projected that dakine is expected to contribute approximately 4 % of billabong international limited s group sales in the 2008 09 financial year . 14 billabong s retail expansion continued into late 2008 with the november purchase of the united kingdom uk based 13 store retail chain two seasons for an undisclosed sum . 15 billabong only announced a single acquisition in 2009 with the purchase of swell a us based online retailer of boardsports brands for an undisclosed sum . 16 billabong commenced 2010 with the signing of a ten year licensing deal with popular skateboard company plan b and plan b subsequently entered into a partnership arrangement with element . 17 in may 2010 billabong s retail expansion continued with the acquisition of american surf retailer becker surf & sport in may the becker deal included the business online operations but not its surfboard operations followed by the purchase of prominent canadian action sports retailer west 49 in late june . 18 19 further acquisitions were then announced in the remainder of 2010 the acquisition of apparel brand rvca was confirmed in july and the label s founder pat tenore explained his decision in the billabong press release one of the key things about billabong is its respect for the creative independence of each of its brands and that level of flexibility will allow rvca to maintain its identity while benefiting from the support of the wider billabong group ; 20 after rvca billabong then returned to the retail market and ended the year with the october acquisition of the australian retail stores surf dive n ski and jetty surf from vendor general pants group for an undisclosed amount . 21 collapse edit on 16 february 2012 trading in billabong shares was halted at the company s request because of reports of a a 776 million takeover offer from tpg capital a united states private equity firm . 22 23 on 17 february 2012 billabong announced its intention to undergo a major restructure . up to 150 stores will be closed . 7 400 full time jobs will be lost internationally including up to 80 in australia . 48.5 % of its nixon watches and accessories brand name will be sold to trilantic capital partners tcp to establish nixon as a joint venture . 22 the partial sale will give approximately us285 a 265.78 million in net proceeds to billabong . it is intended that proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce debt . 22 in february 2012 tpg capital made two takeover proposals which were both not accepted . 24 billabong announced that gordon merchant who owns 15 % of the company s shares had rejected both the offers . on 27 august 2012 chief executive launa inman presented her four year plan to try to return billabong to positive sales growth and increase earnings . the plan included a range of measures with the key focus being on simplifying the business leveraging its namesake brand improving its supply chain and e commerce offerings . the new initiatives are estimated to cost approximately 80 million . 25 in september 2012 two private equity firms tpg capital and bain capital are bidding for ownership of billabong . 1 takeover edit as of 5 june 2013 the company was yet to finalise a takeover deal with either of the two american private equity suitors ; however a refinancing deal was nearing completion as of this date . on 4 june 2013 billabong stated that it was unable to reach an agreement with us private equity funds altamont capital partners and sycamore partners 16 months after the first takeover move emerged . 26 a media report published on 18 july 2013 conveyed that the takeover process had exploded into acrimony as two us hedge funds contested the offer from altamont partners that was accepted by the company on 16 july 2013 . acting together the hedge funds claimed that they had made a superior offer to the one that was accepted whereby a debt for equity swap was proposed that would result in a 60 percent stake in billabong . 27 as of 19 july 2013 billabong rejected the claim from hedge funds centerbridge partners and oaktree capital stating that the proposal in question was conditional and could therefore not be accepted . 28 as of 23 august 2013 billabong confirmed that is considering a rival deal from us hedge funds centerbridge and oaktree after the company had initially announced that plans to accept us300 million loan from an altamont led consortium . the two hedge funds offered a higher price than altamont as well as a lower interest rate on a loan . also as of this date billabong shares gained 6.8 percent to 58.75 cents . 29 a media report on 27 august 2013 stated that billabong will be moving ahead with the us325 million refinancing proposal from altamont and blackstone . as of the same date centerbridge and oaktree were actively pursuing billabong directors in relation to their deal that they believe is sifnificantly superior to the accepted proposal . the consortium also claimed that they could finalise the details and a recapitalisation within a brief time period and would allow acting altamont installed boss scott olivet to remain if their offer succeeds . the company s chairman ian pollard explained we are nearing the end of a long process that has caused distraction impacted on staff morale and has been very costly . the company looks forward to refocusing reinvigorating its brands and rebuilding the business on a solid long term financial footing . 30 pollard stated on 29 august 2013 that the chance of billabong considering the centerbridge and oaktree consortium offer was low . at the time of the interview pollard explained that billabong s board is still evaluating the proposal but also stated that the board is hesitant to overlook the deal brokered with altamont and blackstone . 31 as of 21 september 2013 billabong s deal with altamont was no longer valid and the company was in the process of seeking approval from shareholders to finalise an arrangement with centerbridge and oaktree and their affiliates . if brokered the deal will mean that the centerbridge and oaktree consortium will control most of the company s senior debt it will own up to 40.8 per cent of billabong s shares and will also be entitled to install three representatives on billabong s board . on 21 september 2013 the centerbridge and oaktree consortium appointed new chief executive neil fiske ; 32 as of this date billabong was also continuing the search for a buyer for the canadian skateboard retail chain west 49 . 33 the company s sale of the west 49 retail chain was announced on 4 november 2013 with fashion retailer ym inc. identified as the buyer . west 49 will be sold for approximately cad 9 11 million but billabong has also