This is an abridged version of this note. You can find the complete deep dive note at our website here: M Squared Capital
It’s not often that Kevin Plank of Under Armour gives an interview these days, much less one that lasts for two hours. But what is more amazing is nobody seems to have paid any attention to it. As of the time of this publication, there were only 4.8k views of the full interview. And that’s despite this event occurring six days ago and the interviewer having 935k subscribers. If that doesn’t tell you that the current investment community has lost all hope in this name, then not sure what else will. Listened to the entire interview and decided to provide thoughts on the most interesting aspects…
People make a big deal out of reading the books from Phil Knight (Shoe Dog) and Chip Wilson (Lululemon and the Future of Technical Apparel), which firmly agree are excellent, but unaware of either of these founders ever sitting down for a two-hour interview, much less anyone else in the athletic industry.
Kevin explicitly said he had an offer from VF Corp to buy the company prior to IPO for $850 million…
I think so much about this topic as most people don’t realize how rare it is to achieve exit velocity and become an actual standalone athletic brand that has permission from the consumer to address all product categories and demographics…
Kevin said that he has never received an offer from Nike…
This all matters because the story about him going to Atlantic City to bet his last amount of money simply to make payroll loses some of its luster should the family be able to help…
The reality here is that Kevin should have taken a few lessons from the character Stringer Bell in that series, as Baltimore real estate development certainly isn’t easy…
Eric Liedtke’s mandate is this: 1) Find 20% of marketing budget that can be super agile for, 2) strategic business plan – no need for outside accounting firm to do that given his experience, 3) operating model – highly complicated for a global business…
This comes from current executive of APAC region: “I now understand the brand. You were a brand that became a company and now want to become a brand again”. Kevin says this is the simplest way to explain their current focus. “World class brands lead to world class financials”…
Add your email to our list to get much more timely notifications of new research. As of now we have dedicated coverage of Amer Sports, Deckers, Floor & Decor, Nike, Restoration Hardware, Tractor Supply, Under Armour, and VF Corp. So much more to come…and soon…
FIN