Vista Outdoor has grouped its cycling, snow, and powersports brands into a single division to be overseen by Fox Racing President Jeff McGuane.
The new structure places McGuane in the president seat for the company’s action sports portfolio, which includes Fox Racing, Bell, Giro, Blackburn, Krash, Copilot and Raskullz. Meanwhile, Bell and Giro President Ric Kern is expected to retire March 31.
The news was announced to employees internally on Tuesday.
“Cycling, snow, and powersports are mission-critical categories for Vista Outdoor and our future Outdoor Products Company,” McGuane, whose title is now president of action sports at Vista Outdoor, said in a statement. “Expanding the cooperation of our seven brands while maintaining distinct brand positions is essential to strengthening our competitive advantage.”
McGuane’s promotion also came with other changes for Fox and Vista Outdoor’s Bell and Giro brands.
Bell and Giro Vice President of Operations Noah Fox will become vice president of global operations for the newly structured group.
Fox CFO Tanya Hayden was named Global CFO for the new division. Fox Vice President of People and Culture Marci Gerlach will take on the post of vice president of global people and culture for the new group.
Bell and Giro President Ric Kern
“In short time, Fox’s integration into an already powerful family of brands has delivered a combined No. 1 market share across many of our channels, customers, and product categories,” McGuane said. “With this newly realigned platform and newly appointed leadership team, we believe that all seven brands are even better positioned to win with riders.”
Vista Outdoor said Fox has been “exceeding expectations” since the business was acquired in a $540 million deal that officially closed in August. The transaction also included a $50 million earnout, pending certain financial targets being met.
Fox’s 2022 sales, at the time of the transaction’s closing, were projected to be $350 million, with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of $55 million.
Vista Outdoor said the new, seven-brand group will “drive a unified vision” and is also expected to “enable higher growth for each brand than what otherwise would be achieved if not together.”
Vista Outdoor owns more than three dozen brands in the sport and outdoor market, ranging from camp and cycling to law enforcement and military products.
The company announced plans last year to split its outdoor and sporting businesses into two separate, publicly-traded companies in a move expected to be completed this year. The outdoor-focused company will include brands such as Bell, Giro, and CamelBak. The outdoor company is expected to be led by current Vista Outdoor CEO Chris Metz.
Vista Outdoor, which had a recent market cap of $1.6 billion, is set to report results for its fiscal third quarter Feb. 1.
