Looking to tap into the fast-growing action sports market, VF Corp. said yesterday that it would acquire Vans Inc. for $396 million in cash.
The deal would combine one of the original makers of skateboard sneakers – which courted kids with an anti-establishment philosophy – with a corporate titan in the apparel industry, home to Vanity Fair bras and Lee jeans.
Vans, of Santa Fe Springs, Calif., started as a shoe shop in 1966; it is perhaps best known for the checker-print, slip-on sneaker worn by Sean Penn in the 1982 movie “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”
Over the years, the company has fended off increasing competition from big rivals like Nike and smaller upstarts like Quicksilver by staying true to the surf-and-skate culture of its roots. The company has built skateboard parks and even sponsored a documentary film about a group of pioneering skateboarders.
But increasingly, Vans has found it harder to compete in the $16 billion athletic footwear industry, where its 1 percent market share pales in comparison to Nike’s 39 percent grip on the market, said John Shanley, an analyst with Wells Fargo Securities.