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Today, two prominent names in the mobile device accessories industry announced their plans for a merger. Skullcandy Inc., known best for their line of Skullcandy branded headphones and earbuds for use with anything from smartphones to PC and more, have announced that they will be acquired by Incipio Group, a brand well known for their cases and other accessories for mobile devices. Incipio Group is reported to be paying out $177 million for the acquisition, which includes Skullcandy Inc.’s Skullcandy, and Astro Gaming brands, and will join them with Incipio Group’s own Braven Audio, Incase, and TAVIK brands, as well as the Incipio branded accessories line for a complete and well-rounded lifestyle offering.
With the merger now in place, Incipio Group states that retailers will now have the opportunity to offer a one-stop shop solution across multiple different lifestyle categories. While most of the brands revolve around smartphone and tablet accessories, like the Incase and Incipio cases as well as the headphones from Skullcandy and the speakers from Braven Audio, brands like TAVIK offer something unique in that they manufacture and create premium clothing for those who are active and engaged in modern beach culture, so it will be interesting to see how Incipio Group plans to merge all of these brands into a cohesive lifestyle offering across multiple product categories.
As part of the merger, new licensing opportunities will also open up allowing possible licensing deals with new and existing partners such as Kate Spade, Jack Spade, Burton, Rebecca Minkoff, and Tumi. The reported $177 million works out to be about $5.75 in cash per share for Skullcandy Inc.’s shares. According to Skullcandy Inc.’s CEO, Hoby Darling, the merger will allow the two companies to better serve consumers and retailers with various products. The merger has been approved by the board of directors from both Incipio Group and Skullcandy Inc., and is expected to reach completion by sometime in the third quarter of 2016 although a specific date was not mentioned. Having said that, there will be a “go-shop” period all the way up until July 23rd of this year in which Skullcandy is allowed to seek out acquisition proposals from other third-party companies