Old Town Canoe parent firm accepts family-led buyout offer

RACINE, Wis. – Johnson Outdoors Inc., owner of Maine’s Old Town Canoe and Kayak, said Friday it agreed to accept a sweetened offer to be acquired by a group led by the company’s chairman and chief executive, who seeks to restore full control of the company to her family.

Under the agreement, JO Acquisition Corp., established by members of the family of the late company founder Samuel Johnson, will pay $20.10 a share to acquire the remaining shares of the company that the family does not already own.The group is led by Johnson’s daughter, Helen Johnson-Leipold, who is the company’s chairman and CEO.

The offer represents a 21 percent premium to the average closing price of Johnson Outdoors’ Class A common stock for the 30 days before Feb. 20, when the Johnson family made its initial proposal to acquire the stock for $18 a share.

In afternoon trading Friday, the shares were at $19.89, up 59 cents, or 3.1 percent, on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

The deal is expected to close early next year.

Johnson Outdoors, formerly Johnson Worldwide Associates, makes camping and watersports gear. It sells tents, backpacks, diving gear, snorkels and watercraft, among other items. It had revenue of $315.9 million for the fiscal year ended Oct. 3.

The Johnson family, including CEO Johnson-Leipold, controls nearly 80 percent of the company’s voting power. Efforts to reach Johnson-Leipold were unsuccessful.