From Reuters:
Otter Products LLC, the privately held company that makes the OtterBox protective cases for mobile phones, is exploring a sale that could value the company at more than $2.5 billion, including debt, according to people familiar with the matter.
Otter Products, founded in 1998 by entrepreneur Curt Richardson and owned by him and his family, has hired investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc to manage the sale process, the people said this week.
Some private equity firms have expressed interest in the company, the people added, cautioning that no deal is certain.
Looks like smartphone case maker Otterbox may be looking to cash in on its success to the tune of $2.5 billion. That would be quite the sale, if anyone were to take them up on it. Otterbox itself acquired fellow case maker Lifeproof last year.
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Goldman Sachs … oh yeah, those guys who helped destroy the US economy about eight years back by overvaluing real estate debt …
I wish Mr. Thomas and his family well on this, but $2.5B is crazy money … I can only hope that the fine reputation the product has (carefully built by Thomas) can somehow be preserved …
Thomas really had little to do with the success of the company. He is a former teacher who was friends of the founder and essentially won the lottery and was appointed President about 2 years ago. I can tell you, he was and continues to be a disaster internally. The founder deserves all of the credit.
Source: me
So, did anyone let them know otter boxes cause damage to the iPhone? (top right spring wears out due to continuous pressure)vAnd that this is the reason why Apple doesn’t care them in stores?
I use an Otter Box for my photo equipment but never used one for my phones.
Apple doesn’t carry the OB products in stores due to their requirements of ordering product on consignment. Also, Apple wanted an exclusive product line from OB as well as pricing that don’t meet OB internal profit margin goals (~60%). Source: I worked as an analyst for them for 4 years.
Doesn’t*
Might be a smart time to bail, just in case sapphire screens and liquid metal chassis’ make beefy cases obsolete?
Goldman pushing another bubble?