SKECHERS USA, Inc. Will Explore Purchasing an Interest in the Los Angeles Clippers
Footwear Company Sees a Natural Fit to Leverage Both Brands
MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SKECHERS USA, Inc. (NYSE:SKX), a global leader in footwear, today announced that it will explore acquiring an interest in the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team. The Company is consulting with its advisors about leading an investment group to acquire an interest in the team.
“As one of the five largest athletic footwear companies in the United States and with roots deep in Southern California, we believe acquiring an interest in the Los Angeles Clippers is a natural fit for Skechers,” said Robert Greenberg, Skechers Chief Executive Officer. “With numerous accolades for the Skechers Performance Division, Skechers has become a serious player in the athletic performance footwear market globally. Like Skechers, the Clippers are a great Los Angeles brand with a loyal following and recognition that extends way beyond Southern California.”
Skechers has a long association with professional sports. Most recently, elite athlete and Olympic medalist Meb Keflezighi won the 2014 Boston Marathon and broke his personal record wearing the new Skechers GOmeb Speed 3 shoes, becoming the first American male to win this event since 1983, and the first American since 1985. Meb has endorsed Skechers running shoes since 2011 when the Company launched the Skechers Performance Division and line of Skechers GO footwear. Skechers has also signed many athletic superstars and icons to endorsements over the past twenty years including Joe Montana, Larry Bird, Wayne Gretzky, Evander Holyfield, Karl Malone, Mark Cuban, Tommy Lasorda, and Rick Fox.
Mr. Greenberg continued: “We believe this presents us with a tremendous opportunity to leverage and cross-promote both the Skechers and Clippers brands. The Clippers play in the second biggest media market in the country, and Skechers is an advertising-driven consumer brand that markets and promotes its products worldwide via print, television, digital, radio, in-store, and in malls, stadiums and transportation hubs. We hope that Skechers can be part of giving the Clippers organization and fans a fresh start.”
About SKECHERS USA, Inc.
SKECHERS USA, Inc., based in Manhattan Beach, California, designs, develops and markets a diverse range of lifestyle footwear for men, women and children, as well as performance footwear for men and women. SKECHERS footwear is available in the United States via department and specialty stores, Company-owned SKECHERS retail stores and its e-commerce website, and in over 100 countries and territories through the Company’s international network of subsidiaries in Canada, Brazil, Chile, Japan, and across Europe, as well as through joint ventures in Asia and distributors around the world. For more information, please visit www.skechers.com, and follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SKECHERS) and Twitter (twitter.com/SKECHERSUSA).
This announcement contains forward-looking statements that are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation, the Company’s future growth, financial results and operations, its development of new products, future demand for its products and growth opportunities, and its planned opening of new stores, advertising and marketing initiatives. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of forward looking language such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “estimate,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might,” or any variations of such words with similar meanings. Any such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected in forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause or contribute to such differences include no assurance that the Clippers will in fact be sold, no assurance that the Company will be able to effect the referenced transaction, no assurance that the Company could form the necessary investment group to effect the referenced transactions, no assurance that the NBA would approve the referenced transaction, the resignation of the Company’s former independent registered public accounting firm, and its withdrawal of its audit reports with respect to certain of the Company’s historical financial statements; international, national and local general economic, political and market conditions including the ongoing global economic slowdown and market instability; entry into the highly competitive performance footwear market; sustaining, managing and forecasting costs and proper inventory levels; losing any significant customers, decreased demand by industry retailers and cancellation of order commitments due to the lack of popularity of particular designs and/or categories of products; maintaining brand image and intense competition among sellers of footwear for consumers; anticipating, identifying, interpreting or forecasting changes in fashion trends, consumer demand for the products and the various market factors described above; sales levels during the spring, back-to-school and holiday selling seasons; and other factors referenced or incorporated by reference in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013. The risks included here are not exhaustive. The Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time and the companies cannot predict all such risk factors, nor can the companies assess the impact of all such risk factors on their respective businesses or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Moreover, reported results should not be considered an indication of future performance.
SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Jennifer Clay, 310-937-1326
Source: SKECHERS USA, Inc.
Released May 2, 2014 • 8:55 am EDT