Cross New Ownership

[highlander1307]

A.T. Cross Company, which includes the Cross and Schaeffer brands, is now under new ownership, having been purchased by private equity company Transon Capital Group LLC, Los Angeles.

http://www.providencejournal.com/news/20171116/at-cross-purchased-by-los-angeles-private-equity-firm

http://wpri.com/2017/11/16/la-firm-buys-ri-pen-company-at-cross/

http://magazine.promomarketing.com/article/t-cross-company-purchased-private-equity-firm/

[Donald2]

Made in China

[AL01]

Interesting....

 

This is quite sudden, considering that Sheaffer just kinda sorta started up again.

 

I will be going to L.A. in December...

 

Let's see what happens.

 

This may not be bad at all!

[Parker51]

Yes, it may not be a total disaster. Somebody with Transom Capital thinks there is value in the Cross and Sheaffer brands. Maybe they think they can use It to create a mid market to lower upper market version of Montblanc. So, maybe Cross Boutiques with watches, fragrances, etc. it sorta would make sense given the licensing agreement Cross has had with Disney (Star Wars) and the near explosion of mid to high end licensed products that are out there today. Especially when you think about the Walt Disney Sheaffer Balance that came out several years ago and wasn't marketed as aggressively as it could have been, if it had been able to have been placed in a proprietary Boutique of some sort. Maybe they will be marketed with Cross as the overarching brand and Sheaffer being presented as a "division" to focus on the many vintage styles they did in the past, while Cross focuses as a brand on new designs, especially with licensed tie ins. After all, that is what Fiat-Chrysler has done with their brands.

Edited November 19, 2017 by Parker51

[Jerome Tarshis]

This is disappointing. Clarion has a portfolio of companies some of which are clearly in deluxe territory. Their silver tableware manufacturers include Gorham and a little pantheon of once-great American silver tableware brands. There is also Hartmann luggage. Putting Cross and Sheaffer in that context looked promising.

 

Transom, on the other hand, says on its Web site that its territory is the lower middle. That doesn't mean Cross and Sheaffer are going to disappear. It does suggest that recent results didn't persuade Clarion that A. T. Cross in its present form is right up there. So I wouldn't anticipate Cross boutiques just yet. Clarion evidently did not.

[max dog]

Interesting development.

I am cautiously optimistic because, they still have CEO Baird at the helm, who's vision has always been to eventually bring production back to Rhode Island (in his own words), and the 4 points he laid out sound compelling, especially the point about investing in additional resources and infrastructure. Will see how things unfold.

 

Baird also laid out four points that the acquisition will help grow: prioritizing sales activation by growing the Cross and Schaeffer brands across the globe, developing strategies to set brands and products apart from competition, creating demand worldwide, and investing in additional resources and infrastructure to improve operations.

[ian1964]

Lets hope they don't go the way of Papermate!