BBC International Snaps Up Heelys From Sequential Brands for $11 Million
Heelys has a new owner — and it’s one the brand is familiar with.
Sequential Brands Group said today it has sold Heelys to BBC International for $11 million in cash. The company said the majority of the net proceeds from the sale will be used to pay down debt.
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“The divestiture of the Heelys brand was an outcome of the board’s exploration of strategic alternatives, a process that is still underway,” Sequential Brands Group executive chairman William Sweedler said in a statement.
Sweedler continued, “We believe the brand is in great hands under BBC’s leadership going forward.”
Sequential acquired Heelys in 2013 and licensed it to BBC International as part of the deal.
“BBC has incredible retail relationships and brings tremendous credibility to the conversation,” Rick Platt, then group president of Sequential Brands Group, told FN in 2014 “They’ve done a lot of work in figuring out what was wrong with the business and what retailers didn’t like about the product.”
As part of its overhaul, BBC created new packaging and improved the styling of the shoes. The brand is sold at Zappos.com, Journeys and other retailers.
“The amazing thing about Heelys is that it can sit in so many different types of stores: sporting goods retailers, toy stores, athletic and outdoor shops, mom-and-pops, department stores,” said Seth Campbell in 2017. (Campbell is now BBC’s president.)
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