Acquisition of GSI helps the paddle sports company to continue diversifying its offerings
The legal department at Pelican International played a critical role in the paddle sports company’s recent acquisition of GSI Outdoors – an outdoor equipment provider.
The latest acquisition is Pelican’s third since 2019, and will continue the company’s mission to diversify its offerings in the North American and outdoor market. While the first two deals both supported Pelican’s growth in kayaking and watersports, the addition of GSI allows the Quebec-based international company to expand its reach in the camping space.
“We wanted to add something that’s complimentary to what were already doing,” says Nathalie Rizcalla, VP, HR, corporate and legal affairs at Pelican. “With kayaking and camping, we are a lifestyle company, so you can be on water and on land have complimentary equipment that works well together. We want to get into outside living, and I think we’ve attained that with a company like GSI.
“It was an important move to make because we want to grow as far as we can, so we can’t stay in a niche market for a long period of time,” she adds. “We needed to diversify into complimentary markets.”
The deal took four-and-a-half months to close, so Rizcalla and her team worked with outside counsel on reviewing contracts and managing the due diligence required to close the deal and to prepare for the integration of the new company.
“Something I like to do in the due diligence process is not just reviewing for now, but reviewing for later, so when later comes, everything is already summarized and you can start converging all of the legal work towards one place, so we gradually get everything funneled through the legal department in our office,” says Rizcalla, who has been in her role at Pelican since December, 2020.
The team at Pelican is now focused on integrating GSI into the company and building a synergy between the original brand and all three of the recently acquired companies. Rizcalla anticipates further acquisitions in the pipeline as the company continues on its growth trajectory.
“We will give ourselves at least 12 months to see how everything else unfolds, and how we get those synergies going, and then I do hope that we move forward continuously,” she says.
In addition to the focus on M&A, Rizcalla is also looking to expand her legal department in line with the growing company, to help manage risk, litigation and regulatory matters. As Pelican expands more into the US market, there will be more focus on addressing US matters through the international company’s US-based offices.
