North Castle Partners has reached an agreement to sell Cascade Helmets, a manufacturer and distributor of men’s and youth lacrosse helmets, to Bauer Performance Sports for a cash purchase price of $64 million.
“We are proud of our role in the Cascade transaction, which is representative of the broader value creation that we are driving across our entire portfolio,” said North Castle’s Managing Partner Chip Baird. “We continue to look for opportunities across the health, wellness and active living markets to leverage our knowledge, network and experience in building market leaders like Cascade.”
Cascade is a designer, developer, manufacturer and marketer of lacrosse helmets and eyewear and is a well-recognized brand in the broader lacrosse equipment industry. In addition to Cascade’s lacrosse business, the acquisition also includes Cascade’s recently-established hockey helmet business. Cascade was founded in 1986 and designs and manufactures all of its products at its operations in Liverpool, NY (www.cascadehelmets.com).
North Castle makes control investments in consumer-driven product and service companies located in North America with enterprise values ranging from $50 million to $500 million. Sectors of interest include: aesthetics and personal care; consumer health; fitness and recreation; home and leisure; and nutrition. North Castle is headquartered in Greenwich, CT (www.northcastlepartners.com).
“The sale of Cascade continues to validate our strategy to partner with entrepreneurial management teams to build high growth brands for sale to strategic buyers,” said North Castle Managing Director Alison Minter. “North Castle, leveraging its deep experience in sports, fitness and recreation in partnership with Cascade’s exceptional leadership team, accelerated new product innovation, doubled sales and built a new line of hockey helmets with hockey legend Mark Messier.”
Bauer Performance Sports is a developer and manufacturer of ice hockey, roller hockey, and lacrosse equipment as well as related apparel. Its products are marketed under the Bauer Hockey, Mission Roller Hockey and Maverik Lacrosse brand names and are distributed by sales representatives and independent distributors throughout the world. The company is based in Mississauga, ON (www.bauerperformancesports.com).
