The Paris-based parent of Gucci, Puma and other brands is interested in buying Huntington Beach-based Quiksilver Inc., according to a report in French newspaper La Tribune.
PPR SA, which owns Gucci, Yves Saint Laurent, Puma, other brands and stores, has contacted Quiksilver and major shareholder Rhone Group LLC of New York about a possible acquisition, according to the report.
Quiksilver’s shares closed up more than 20% Thursday on a market value of $930 million.
PPR is in talks to sell furniture store chain Conforama to South Africa’s Steinhoff International Holdings Ltd. for $1.6 billion.
It is looking to sell off other retail operations before making any significant acquisition.
The company is said to be interested in brands that could be added to sportswear brand Puma.
PPR owns a majority of Germany’s Puma AG.
“We think Quiksilver could be of interest to PPR as a market leader in the lifestyle space focused on surfing, skateboarding and snowboarding,” analysts with JPMorgan Cazenove—a venture of JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Britain’s Cazenove—wrote in a note to clients.
PPR was a rumored potential suitor of Quiksilver during the height of the company’s financial struggles in 2009.
Quiksilver nearly was sunken by 2005’s $560 million buy of French ski maker Rossignol, which drove a string of losses and left the company laden with debt.
The company ended up unloading Rossignol in a $50 million fire sale in 2008 but was left with about $1 billion in short- and long-term debt from the deal and borrowing to keep Rossignol afloat before the sale.
Quiksilver faced the prospect of bankruptcy or the sale of all or parts of the company.
In 2009, Quiksilver struck a lifesaving financing deal with investor Rhone Group that helped finance a U.S. line of credit and consolidate its European debt.
Since then, Quiksilver has made a series of moves to shore up its once crippling balance sheet.
Rhone now owns nearly a third of Quiksilver.
