Crocs CEO leaving as Blackstone invests $200M
NIWOT, Colo. - The company that makes Crocs (CROX) shoes is getting a $200 million bailout from a private equity fund, and its CEO is retiring.
Crocs says it will use the money from Blackstone, plus cash on hand, for a $350 million share buyback. The deal gives Crocs
a cash infusion, gives Blackstone two seats on the board and preferred
shares that pay a 6 percent dividend, and gives shareholders an
additional return by way of the buyback.
Crocs
shares peaked above $75 in 2007 as buyers snapped up the clogs known
for being comfortable but ugly. But it hasn't been able to add new
products with the same popularity. Shares
fell to around $1 in late 2008 before beginning a recovery.
In
premarket trading Monday they rose $1.69, or almost 13 percent, to
$15.02. Crocs
also said late Sunday that CEO John McCarvel is retiring and giving up
his board seat around the end of April. He has been with Crocs since 2005, and had been president and CEO since 2010. The company said it has begun an outside search for his replacement.
McCarvel called the Blackstone investment "a vote of confidence in our company and our brand." Crocs
also said fourth-quarter revenue will be at the low end of the $220
million to $225 million it had predicted, and its quarterly loss will be
at the worse end of the 20 cents to 23 cents per share it had
predicted. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had been expecting a loss of 20
cents per share on revenue of $222 million.