Samsonite Buys Luxuty Brand TUMI

"This is Big news in the Luggage business. It's the largest sale ever in this category. Tumi sales are roughly $540 million, so Samsonite purchased Tumi at a multiple of 3.5x, which is unprecedented..... "   Eliot Cobb

Samsonite to Buy Tumi for $1.8 Billion

Samsonite agreed on Thursday to buy one of its most prominent competitors in the luggage industry, Tumi Holdings, for about $1.8 billion in a deal that unites two of the biggest companies to cater to business travelers.

Under the terms of the deal, Samsonite will pay $26.75 a share in cash, 32 percent higher than the closing price of Tumi’s stock on Wednesday.
Buying Tumi, founded four decades ago by a veteran of the Peace Corps and named after a kind of ceremonial Incan knife, will give Samsonite an entryway into high-end luggage.
Tumi’s roller bags have a cult following among travelers who covet the sleek, and expensive, black ballistic-nylon models for which the brand is known.
Tumi reported $548 million in sales last year, up 4 percent from the previous year.
“Tumi is a perfect strategic fit for our business,” Ramesh Tainwala, Samsonite’s chief executive, said in a statement.
The deal is one of the biggest acquisitions by Samsonite in its century-long history, stretching back to its roots in Denver as the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company. The luggage maker has been bought and sold over the years, most recently to the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. Samsonite went public on the Hong Kong stock exchange in 2011.
Samsonite has a market capitalization of about $4.3 billion.
In its announcement, Samsonite said that it planned to market Tumi luggage through its own sales network and expand the brand’s reach in Asia and Europe.
Samsonite will finance the deal through loans from Morgan Stanley, HSBC, SunTrust and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, the company said.

By MICHAEL J. de la MERCEDMARCH 3, 2016

Photo

Tumi was founded four decades ago by a veteran of the Peace Corps and named after a kind of ceremonial Incan knife. CreditMax Rossi/Reuters

eBags Adds New Executives

"eBags has always needed a Chief Merchandising Officer and I'm happy to see that they're finally hiring one. This will undoubtedly mean that eBags will continue to add more non-bag products to its assortment which should mean even more sales."  Eliot Cobb

DENVER, Mar. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- eBags, the largest online retailer of luggage, backpacks, handbags, and accessories, announced today several key executive hires and new appointments to the management team. Scott Erdman has been named Chief Merchandising Officer and Krista Paul is joining as Vice President of Content Innovation. eBags also announced that Mike Frazzini has been appointed Chief Technology Officer and Chris Seahorn Vice President of Marketing. This news comes on the heels of eBags selling its 25 millionth bag and finishing 2015 with record sales.

"We are fortunate to have extraordinary depth and breadth of talent across eBags' executive team," said Mike Edwards, eBags CEO. "These new appointments will help us continue to make huge strides in mobile optimization, growing our product portfolio and increasing customer engagement, loyalty, and sales."

Scott Erdman is a veteran in retail, merchandising and ecommerce with more than 20 years of experience in luxury retail, apparel and accessories. Erdman joins eBags from Bluefly, where he served as Chief Merchandising Officer. Erdman spearheaded the site's transformation from an asset owned business model into a marketplace business model, making the site a true destination for fashionable consumers. Erdman has also held management positions at Saks Fifth Avenue, LVMH, and Macy's.

"I am delighted to be joining the dynamic and creative team at eBags and play a role in the company's future success," said Erdman. "I think the company and industry are poised for growth and innovation, which makes this an exciting time for an ecommerce merchant to be joining the organization."

Krista Paul brings with her extensive digital marketing and travel ecommerce experience. She founded the travel loyalty platform UsingMiles in 2009, which helped frequent flyers manage all of their miles and points in one place. The business was sold in 2013. Having built marketing teams from scratch at startups and global companies, Krista has broad experience creating and managing the digital and social strategy, including influencer marketing, consumer PR, interactive marketing and customer engagement.

Mike Frazzini and Chris Seahorn, longstanding executives at eBags, have been appointed senior leadership roles within the company. Mike was the first IT person to join eBags in 1998. Under Mike's leadership, eBags has grown from a lean startup into a top ecommerce travel destination. In his new role, Mike will focus on building an industry-leading IoT-platform-connected mobile technology and an innovation pipeline of critical technology to facilitate agility, profitability, and customer experience.

                     

About eBags

eBags is the leading online retailer of luggage, backpacks, and accessories. With over 25 million bags sold and 3.2 million customer reviews, eBags features 67,000 products from 600 brands, including Tumi, Samsonite, Travelpro, and more. For more information, visit www.eBags.com.