Victorinox buys back all outstanding shares of Swiss Army Brands, Inc.

At the beginning of August, 2002, Victorinox AG made a tender offer to buy all outstanding shares of the publicly-traded US company Swiss Army Brands, Inc. in an attempt to take the US company private. The tender offer was officially successful on August 26, 2002. The bid price was $9 per share.
Victorinox and its affiliates owned approximately 67.8% of the outstanding shares of Common Stock of Swiss Army Brands, and for the tender offer to be successful, Victorinox had to gain control of not less than 90% of the total number of outstanding shares. Estimates are that Victorinox was able to acquire approximately 98.8% of all outstanding shares.
Once the tender offer was successful, Victorinox AG named Sue Rechner (picture), formerly Senior Vice President-global watch, Swiss Army Brands, Inc. and CEO of Victorinox Swiss Army Watch SA, President of Swiss Army Brands, Inc. In addition, Swiss Army Brands, Inc. Chairman, Peter W. Gilson, and its President, A. Jeffrey Turner, announced their plans to resign in the very near future.
“We at Victorinox are delighted at the prospect of Ms. Rechner guiding Swiss Army into the future,” Charles Elsener, Jr., President of Victorinox A.G. said in a prepared statement. “My father, Chairman of Victorinox, and I have watched Ms. Rechner re-launch Swiss Army's domestic watch business and develop Victorinox Swiss Army Watch SA from a concept into a growing concern. We have been tremendously impressed with her vision and drive, and her ability to make things happen.”
Rechner believes that taking the company private will benefit their retailers both in the short term and over the long haul. “The onus is off the short term results and the focus is on long term decision making,” she said. “Customer satisfaction is our biggest concern, and you can't make investments in customer satisfaction without expenditures which might affect the short term bottom line. Now that we don't have to worry about the shareholders, we will be far more flexible and agile. We can concentrate on our core business instead of worrying about how to make money in the short term.”
“The watch side of our business will stay fairly stable because it's working superbly. You will see changes in the other businesses,” Rechner explained. “Watch retailers have already seen the changes. Many of the things watch retailers have felt over the last period of time have become the model that will be applied to other parts of our business. For watch retailers, it will be business as usual improving the direct sales force, better point of sale support, better product line, better marketing support, better training.
”www.swissarmybrands.com
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Source: Europa Star International
Oct-Nov 2002 issue