American Sporting Goods Corp., a maker of basketball and other sports shoes, is the latest Irvine company to face relocation because of plans to build homes in the John Wayne Airport area.
That’s just half the problem. There aren’t many other places for the company to go locally.
The issue comes as American Sporting Goods is looking for a buyer. The company, which counts estimated yearly sales of $300 million, has hired Wachovia Securities to work on a possible sale, Chief Executive Kevin Wulff recently told industry publication Footwear News.
“We anticipate the process and sale will be completed sometime in December,” Wulff said. “Interest has been high. I think that is the right amount of time to do this. Then we can get back to focusing on making shoes.”
Chairman Jerry Turner owns the bulk of American Sporting Goods. Wulff, a former Nike Inc. executive, came on last year and owns a stake in the company.
American Sporting Goods came close to selling to a private equity group last year. A sale likely is aimed at giving Turner, who’s in his 70s, a way to cash out.
On the real estate front, American Sporting Goods is preparing to move a big chunk of its operations to the Inland Empire.
The company just signed a five-year lease in Fontana for a new warehouse. The 320,000-square-foot building is set to replace two others the company has in Orange County.
For more on this story, see the Aug. 28 edition of the Business Journal.
