Now that all their previous merchandise has been recalled for minor embroidery issues, B.O.B. was free to sell itself to over-upholstered car seat juggernaut Britax. And that's just what they did.
"The parties have agreed to not disclose the purchase price," but that shouldn't stop us from guessing, right? Especially since we now know B.O.B. sold 441,000 strollers between 1998 and 2011, and 337,000 between 2002 and 2011. Assume they've grown, and so current annual volume is maybe around 40,000 units, with an average wholesale price of $250, for a convenient $10 million annual revenue. Comparable public companies are scarce, but the baby industrial complex generally trades at a price-to-sales ratio around 0.5 [Dorel is 0.42 and Graco parent Newell Rubbermaid is 0.66], so I'd guess the deal was around or under $5 million. Or, less than what People might have paid for Celebrity Baby Blog in 2008. Crazy, right?
BRITAX Acquires B.O.B. Trailers, Inc. [britaxusa.com via dt reader courtney]
