Canada Goose Acquires Winter-Boot Maker Baffin to Enter Footwear

(Bloomberg) -- Canada Goose Holdings Inc. has acquired winter-boot company Baffin Inc. in its first foray into footwear.

The coatmaker, which purchased the company for C$32.5 million ($24.8 million) in cash and stock, will use Baffin’s bootmaking proficiency to create its own cold-weather footwear, while letting the brand operate independently as a subsidiary.

“We’ve all seen many apparel manufacturers try and get into footwear and fail at getting into footwear,” Canada Goose Chief Executive Officer Dani Reiss said in an interview Thursday. The company will use the Baffin’s knowledge “as a base to build Canada Goose footwear.”

Baffin makes extreme cold-weather boots, with names like Snow Monster and Icebreaker, to handle subzero conditions in the Arctic and Antarctic. It also sells some everyday styles, such as Chelsea and desert boots. Products include $56 rain boots and $490 expedition boots with thermal insulation that can withstand temperatures as low as negative 70 degrees Celsius.

Canada Goose has been focused on expansion since going public in 2017, plotting growth in markets such as China and entering new product categories like spring jackets. Major players in the winter boot industry include L.L. Bean, VF Corp.’s North Face and Timberland, and Columbia Sportswear Co.’s Sorel.

Reiss said it will take some time before Canada Goose-branded boots hit shelves as the company plots its entry into the market.

To contact the reporters on this story: Kim Bhasin in New York at kbhasin4@bloomberg.net;Sandrine Rastello in Montreal at srastello@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Scanlan at dscanlan@bloomberg.net, Anne Riley Moffat

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