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Type | Private |
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Industry | Sporting goods |
Founded | 1962 |
Founder | Bill Kirschner Don Kirschner |
Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | John Colonna (CEO) |
Products | Skis, Snowboards, Ski Boots, Ski Bindings, Snowboard Boots, Snowboard bindings, Apparel, Inline skates, Ice skates, Snowshoes, Backcountry Safety Accessories |
Brands | K2 Skis, K2 Snowboards, K2 Skates, Backcountry Access, Ride Snowboards, Tubbs Snowshoes, Atlas Snow-Shoe Company, LINE Skis, Full Tilt Boots, Madshus |
Parent | Kohlberg & Company |
Website | k2sports.com |
K2 Sports, LLC (K2 Sports) is an American winter sports company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. K2 Sports operates the K2 Skis, K2 Snowboarding, K2 Skates, Backcountry Access, Ride Snowboards, Tubbs Snowshoes, Atlas Snow-Shoe Company, LINE Skis, Full Tilt Boots, and Madshus brands. [1] Famous users of K2 Skis include pro champion Spider Sabich, World Cup and Olympic champion Phil Mahre, and his twin brother Steve Mahre, World Champion and Olympic silver medalist.
Founded in 1962 by brothers Bill and Don Kirschner on Vashon Island, Washington, K2 is known for pioneering fiberglass ski technology, which made skis significantly lighter and more lively than their wood and metal contemporaries. In 1967, Bill Kirschner named the company K2 (for the world's second-largest mountain and for the two Kirschner brothers, Bill and Don).
In late 1969, the company's rapid growth required new capital and Bill Kirschner decided a well-financed partner was necessary. The company was acquired by the Cummins Engine Company of Columbus, Indiana. Then in November 1976, the company was acquired by a private group of Northwest investors. The group, called Sitca, purchased K2 and its subsidiary, Jansport.
In 1982, company management purchased all outstanding shares of Sitca Corporation from the group of Northwest investors. Management decided to concentrate all resources on the alpine ski market.
In September 1985, Anthony Industries, Inc. acquired 100 percent of the stock of Sitca Corporation. Anthony, an NYSE listed company, develops and manufactures products for leisure and recreational markets under many brand names. [2]
In 1995, Anthony Industries sold off its Anthony Pools division to its rival, Sylvan Pools, and changed its name to K2, Inc. By 2000, board member Richard Heckmann had assumed control and embarked on a vigorous growth program. In order to remain financially competitive, in 2001 K2 moved its manufacturing from Vashon Island to Guangdong, China, and its offices to Seattle. [3]
Thereafter, the company acquired Rawlings Sporting Goods and Worth, a manufacturer of baseball bats; Brass Eagle and Viewloader in the paintball business; Volkl, Marker, and Marmot. On June 22, 2006, K2 announced it was moving its business office from Vashon Island to Seattle's Industrial District. [4]
On April 25, 2007 Jarden Corporation announced a definitive agreement to acquire K2, Inc. for a cash and stock value per share of $15.50. Jarden is controlled by Martin Franklin, a British investor and triathlete. [5] Jarden was later acquired by Newell Brands, who then sold K2 to private equity firm Kohlberg & Company in 2017. [6]
Sunbeam Products is an American brand that has produced electric home appliances since 1910. Its products have included the Mixmaster mixer, the Sunbeam CG waffle iron, Coffeemaster (1938–1964) and the fully automatic T20 toaster.
Ball Corporation is an American company headquartered in Broomfield, Colorado. It is best known for its early production of glass jars, lids, and related products used for home canning. Since its founding in Buffalo, New York, in 1880, when it was known as the Wooden Jacket Can Company, the Ball company has expanded and diversified into other business ventures, including aerospace technology. It eventually became the world's largest manufacturer of recyclable metal beverage and food containers.
Newell Brands is an American manufacturer, marketer and distributor of consumer and commercial products. The company's brands and products include Rubbermaid storage and trash containers; home organization and reusable container products; Contigo and Bubba water bottles; Coleman outdoor products; writing instruments glue ; children's products ; First Alert alarm systems, cookware and small kitchen appliances and fragrance products.
Rubbermaid is an American manufacturer and distributor of household items. It is a subsidiary of Newell Brands. It is best known for producing food storage containers and trash cans. Additionally, it produces sheds, step stools, closets and shelving, laundry baskets, bins, air fresheners and other household items.
Burton Snowboards is a privately-owned snowboard manufacturing company that was founded by Jake Burton Carpenter in 1977. The company specializes in products aimed at snowboarders, such as snowboards, bindings, boots, outerwear, and accessories. The company, whose flagship store is in Burlington, Vermont, was privately owned by Jake Burton Carpenter, until his death in 2019, and by his wife, Donna Carpenter, who has been active in the business since 1983.
Jarden was an American consumer products company. Formed by the spin out of Ball Corporation's canning business, the company became a wider conglomerate of consumer brands, particularly in the outdoors and home appliances market. Jarden was acquired in 2016 by Newell Rubbermaid, which renamed itself Newell Brands.
Marker International is a German manufacturing company of equipment for winter sports established in 1952 and headquartered in Straubing, Lower Bavaria. Founded by Hannes Marker, the company is known for pioneering releasable binding technology. Marker's first model, the Duplex was followed in 1953 by the Simplex toe binding which was a huge success in the 1950s. New models introduced in the 1980s were major competitors on the alpine racing circuit.
Völkl Ski International, GmbH, is a sports equipment manufacturing company based in Germany. Initially it manufactured skis, but has extended its line to snowboards, outerwear, and tennis gear. The American branch is located in Lebanon, New Hampshire along with its wholly owned binding manufacturer, Marker. In 2015 Völkl bought the ski boot manufacturer Dalbello.
Rawlings Sporting Goods is an American sports equipment manufacturing company based in Town and Country, Missouri. Founded in 1887, Rawlings currently specializes in baseball and softball clothing and equipment, producing gloves, bats, balls, protective gear, batting helmets, uniforms, bags. Footwear includes sneakers, and sandals. The company also sells other accessories such as belts, wallets, and sunglasses.
Phillip Ferdinand Mahre is a former World Cup alpine ski racer, widely regarded as one of the greatest American skiers of all time. His total of 27 World Cup race wins is fourth among Americans, only behind Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin, and Bode Miller.
Marmot is an outdoor recreation clothing and sporting goods company founded in 1974 as "Marmot Mountain Works". The company was founded in Grand Junction, Colorado by local resident Tom Boyce and two University of California, Santa Cruz students, David Huntley and Eric Reynolds, who shared the common goal of making their own mountaineering equipment. Two years prior to the founding of Marmot, Boyce secured an order for the climbing apparel used in the film The Eiger Sanction starring Clint Eastwood, and Huntley made the original prototype gear that Boyce was using on the Wolper Productions/National Geographic documentary Journey to the Outer Limits, about the Colorado Outward Bound School. It was during this documentary production that cameraman Mike Hoover, who later worked on Eiger Sanction, saw the equipment that Boyce was using during the portion filmed in Peru. Just prior to Christmas 1973, Mike Hoover called Boyce and placed the order that led to the formation of the company in Grand Junction.
K2 Snowboards are snowboards manufactured by the sports equipment company K2 Sports. K2 Sports was founded by businessman Bill Kirschner in 1962. The company manufactured some of the first sets of fibreglass skis in the 1960s, and delivered its first lot of 250 pairs of fibreglass skis in 1964.
Jostens is an American manufacturer of memorabilia. The company is primarily known for its production of yearbooks and class rings for various high schools and colleges as well as championship rings for sports. Jostens also produced photobook products for Disney's PhotoPass photography service offered at Disney theme parks and resorts.
The Rival Company is an American manufacturer of small appliances that produces products under the Bionaire, Crock-Pot, Fasco, Patton, Pollenex, Rival, Simer, and White Mountain brands. It became a wholly owned subsidiary of Holmes Products Corp. in 1999, and later became a brand of Sunbeam Products, a subsidiary of Jarden Corporation, which purchased Holmes in 2005. Jarden, in turn, merged with Newell Rubbermaid in 2016. It is now part of the Newell Brands company.
Penn Fishing Tackle Manufacturing Company is an American manufacturer of fishing tackle, primarily known for making heavy-duty fishing reels and rods.
Line Skis, commonly shortened to Line or stylized as LINE, is a new school skis company owned by K2 Sports. Line Skis was founded by Jason Levinthal in 1995 to produce short, twin-tipped skis for freestyle skiers, and has since moved to produce full-length freeskis.
James E. Lillie is an American business executive. He currently serves as Vice Chairman of Mariposa Capital, a private family office. Since 2017, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Tiffany & Co., and he was named Co-Chairman of APi Group, Inc. in 2019. He served as CEO of Jarden Corp. from 2011 until its 2015 sale to Newell Brands. Lillie is long-term business partners with Martin E. Franklin and Ian G. H. Ashken. He has been a frequent guest and guest host on CNBC and Bloomberg TV.
Limited Snowboards was a Canadian snowboard brand founded in Toronto in 1993 by Perry Gladstone and Ricardo Camargo. Limited Snowboards Inc. and its successors distributed snowboards bindings, boots, clothing and accessories under the brands Limited and LTD.
Sir Martin Ellis Franklin, KGCN is a British American, Miami-based businessman. He is the founder and chairman of Element Solutions Inc.; co-founder and co-chairman of Nomad Foods Limited, and co-founder and former chairman of Jarden Corporation, which was sold to Newell Brands in 2016. Franklin is also the founder and CEO of Mariposa Capital, a Miami-based family investment firm; a director of Restaurant Brands International Inc.; chairman and controlling shareholder of Royal Oak Enterprises, LLC, and is a principal and executive officer of several other private investment entities.
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Coordinates: 47°33′50″N122°19′39″W / 47.564025°N 122.327487°W