By John Stouffer

March 23, 2000

Elan's President and CEO Herman Poklukar. Photo: John Stouffer

Elan, the company that makes snowboards for itself and such brands as Sims, Forum, and Nitro, has been bought by the Slovenian government, says Herman Poklukar, president and C.E.O of Elan North America.

"This is a good development," he says. "It puts rumors about the future to sleep."

According to Poklukar, Elan was bought by the Slovenian Agency for Industrial Development, which will supply immediate financing for the company to run its operations. There had been rumors that Elan was going to close its factory in Austria and consolidate all its production to its Slovenian facility. This could have had a major impact on several snowboard brands since almost all the snowboards that Elan makes are produced at the Austrian plant.

Poklukar says that the deal was done hastily. "They moved pretty fast and the deal was done last week."

He says one of the reasons that the government bought the company is that the brand is one of the most recognized names in the snowboard and ski industry and one of the most recognized companies from Slovenia. "This investor is not just looking for a return."

But he says that while the company has found a financial backer, the work is not over. "Now we have to do our job to make us successful".

Elan North America, which runs the U.S. and Canadian distribution, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Elan International, is based in Austria. Elan Int. is owned by Elan Corporation, which is based in Slovenia and is the company that the Slovenian government bought.