Thule Group acquires leading North American Roof Top Tent company
Thule Group is pleased to announce the acquisition of Tepui Outdoors Inc., a leader in Roof Top Tents in North America. This acquisition will furtherenhance the Thule Group’s expanding portfolio of products focused on an active lifestyle.
“Roof Top Tents offer consumers a great way to utilize their existing cars for self-reliant overnight travel to remote destinations, where the journey is the principal goal. The overlanding category has been growing steadily over the last few years and we are very pleased to add this great assortment of high-quality Roof Top Tents and accessories to our broad portfolio of products that cater to consumers who enjoy living an active life. The synergies between the Thule brand’s market leading expertise for transport solutions on the car and Tepui Roof Top Tents exist in both consumer marketing and in the supply chain. When combined with the mutual philosophies on high quality, smart engineering and great design, as well as a shared passion for the outdoors, Tepui is a natural fit to our portfolio”, said Magnus Welander, CEO andPresident of the Thule Group.
Tepui Outdoors Inc. was founded in 2010 by Evan and Gabriela Currid. The company is based out of Santa Cruz, California, and led by Evan Currid, who will continue to manage the product category within Thule Group.
The total purchase price for Tepui Outdoors Inc. was USD 9.5 million, on a debt-free/cash-free basis, with a potential maximum earn-out payment of USD 1.75 million, which is based on revenue performance during the period 2019-2020.
Tepui Outdoors Inc. has approximately 20 employees and net sales for 2018 is expected to be approximately USD 6.5 million.
The acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on Thule Group’s total sales and profits and the Roof Top Tent category will be consolidated into the Sport & Cargo Carrier product category in reporting going forward.
This is big news in the Rooftop Tent world. I’ve been using Tepui products for a few years and couldn’t be happier. Tepuis intuitive designs and robust products have them atop this rapidly growing segment. Quite often however, when I try to place an order, I find that several items are out of stock. I’m hopeful that Thule of Sweden can assist not only distribution but the supply chain as well. I’ve met Evan Currid at Outdoor Retailer and I’m happy to hear that Thule is retaining him at the helm. I only see this acquisition as a good thing for both Tepui and Thule. And look forward to what these two companies come up with in the coming years.
