Toms founder sells 50% stake to Bain Capital

Blake Mycoskie at Surf Summit in 2010 - Photo by Shop-eat-surf

We are catching up on the news from yesterday afternoon that Toms has received a major investment from Bain Capital.

While terms of the deal were not officially disclosed, Reuters reported the transaction valued the company at about $625 million, including debt.

Founder Blake Mycoskie will maintain 50% ownership. In a press release, he said he plans to give away at least half of his profits from the transaction to establish a fund to support social entrepreneurship and other causes.




The goal of the Bain investment is to accelerate the global growth of the company around the world.

While once a golden sales driver in women’s footwear, action sports retailers have reported a notably slowing of Toms sales over the past year or so. The men’s shoes never caught on in the action sports and surf space.

In a statement, Mycoskie said, “… While I believe TOMS has done a lot of good up to this point, there is so much more we can and should be doing. More importantly, I want TOMS to be relevant not only to the next generation, but the one after that, and far beyond.”

Citing sources close to the transaction, Reuters reported Bain prevailed over other private equity firms in an auction for Toms.

Mycoskie will now turn his attention to creating new product categories and marketing campaigns, he told the New York Times. He also said Bain will help him find a new CEO.

Mycoskie founded Toms in 2006. Since then, Toms has given more than 20 million pairs of shoes to children in need through its “One for One” program.

 

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