Boardriders Inc. sells surfing wetsuit brand Xcel

By

Olivier Guyot

Translated by
Nicola Mira

Published
Mar 20, 2020

When the Boardriders group presented the latest strategic plan, it made clear it wanted to focus its efforts on its six main brands: Quiksilver, Billabong, Element, Roxy, DC Shoes and RVCA. Surfing wetsuit brand Xcel had been put by Boardriders on the list of assets to sell some time ago, and the group led by Dave Tanner has now announced it has found a buyer.

“We've done a lot to streamline our company over the last several years, and now we are squarely focused on our growth agenda,” stated Tanner in a press release. “Although Xcel is a terrific brand, it constitutes less than 1% of our global sales, so it just made sense to focus our efforts on growing our larger brands and finding a great home for Xcel. We thank the entire Xcel team for their passion and dedication over the years and wish them the best of luck in this next phase."

The new owner of the wetsuit brand, which was founded in California in 1982 by Ed D'Ascoli, is the ZG Holdings group, based in Aspen, Colorado. The amount spent by ZG Holdings to buy Xcel was not disclosed. The group was founded in 2015 and is led by Jarka Duba, the former US boss of outdoor sports protection equipment brand POC.

ZG Holdings distributes three other brands: winter sports glove brand Level, helmet and sport protection brand Briko, and Swedish outdoor apparel and skiwear brand State of Elevenate. The group also specialises in providing logistics services, CRM and ERP solutions for third-party brands in the board sports and outdoor equipment sectors, chiefly for mountain-related companies, and has now entered the surfing market with Xcel.

Von Zipper, the sunglasses and goggles brand owned by Boardriders, is also no longer part of the core business on which the group intends to focus, and it is likely to be sold like Xcel.