Ride Sports Announces Sale of SMP Clothing Subsidiary

Ride Sports has sold the operating assets and inventory of its Chula Vista, California-based, subsidiary SMP Clothing, Inc. to SMP’s Australian licensee for more than two-million dollars in cash and promissory notes. As part of the transaction, Ride will retain SMP’s current liablilities and accounts receivable in the approximate amounts of 300,000 dollars and 1.1-million dollars, respectively.

According to the 10-Q form Ride filed with the Securites and Exchange Commission on November 2, the company will receive $2,081,412 from the sale of SMP. This payment will consist of a cash payment of 250,000 dollars and promissory notes for the balance due on or before March 31, 1999.

"We are very pleased to have completed this transaction," stated Robert F. Marcovitch, Ride’s president and CEO, in a press release. "With it behind us, Ride is free to concentrate its resources and energies on its growing snowboard- and wakeboard-related product lines. This sale represents another considerable step in the company’s ongoing effort to reduce costs and focus on improving our core products in order to better serve our loyal and expanding customer base."

The benefits of the sale do not stop at Ride’s doorstep, claims the company. "Our Australian friends have done great things with the brand in their country in a very short period of time," says Marcovitch. "They have the marketing and manufacturing savvy to be a successful player in the global apparel business."