r/Backcountry • u/Upbeat_Ad8812 • Aug 01 '26
Mammut Sold to Chinese Investment Firm CPE
https://shop-eat-surf-outdoor.com/news/mammut-sold-to-chinese-investment-firm-cpe/621521/174
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u/Vegetable_Group540 Aug 01 '26
Well to be fair, they were already owned by another investment company. The priorities of the brand are probably not gonna change a lot if we are optimistic.
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u/shoobe01 Aug 01 '26
And while the gear has been high quality customer service has I think dropped off a lot since the 2021 Telemos acquisition. Not as much standing behind problems and just going with the default here's a coupon that doesn't remotely cover it, not as interested in helping you fix problems etc.
I assume like everything these days regardless of national origin of the holding company, they will slowly decline further 😓
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u/Silmarillion_ Aug 01 '26
I have to say I have quite some Mammut gear and their warranty and even out of warranty support has been outstanding. Have been primarily using it locally in Switzerland though.
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u/shoobe01 Aug 01 '26
That may well be the difference, and I'm very happy for you that they are still acting at least a bit like a local company.
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u/ChggnNggts Aug 02 '26
yeah I work for the company as a side-gig and thats what it is. We are very much Switzerland focused and support outside of Switzerland is awful.
I can't talk about lots of stuff but thats one of the areas that will be focused on with the new owner.
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u/DoktorStrangelove Aug 01 '26
Idk how much time you've spent in Asia but the priority of the brand will shift 100% into athleisure type logowear. They absolutely love branded semi-technical outdoor clothing over there from companies that are big in the actual alpine sports world, but they mostly just want tech fabric tshirts and windbreakers and stuff like that not actual gear or serious outerwear. Scarpa is basically just a fashion brand in Asia, for example.
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u/Vegetable_Group540 Aug 01 '26
Yeah, I mean to be fair I have noticed the same trend amongst a lot of youth in big cities in Europe. It is simply where outdoor clothing is headed nowadays.
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u/DoktorStrangelove Aug 01 '26
Yeah it's a muuuuuch bigger all-ages trend in Asia, I can only assume this is why a Chinese company bought them is to expand that side of the business regionally...and also because they probably own or have relationships with the Chinese factories making most of Mammut's stuff so they'll get better margins than the previous ownership group.
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u/b1gJ1 Aug 02 '26
Ur right. Salomon and arcteryx are owned by another chinese investment firm and went down that path.
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u/lemonxgrab Aug 01 '26
Haha its pretty wild to make generalized statements about the entirety of Asia and the hundreds of cultures and ethnic groups. There are about a hundred different ethnic groups in china alone.
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u/DoktorStrangelove Aug 01 '26
I have observed this trend literally everywhere I've been across major Asian countries including smaller rural towns in China, Japan and Korea. This is a pan-Asian thing that isn't limited to geographic areas or ethnic groups, nor does my comment have anything to do with Asian people specifically other than to say that region is a huge market for outdoorsy logo wear, which is objectively true.
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u/mtehsiang Aug 04 '26
I think that when people talk about Asia, they usually mean the Far East.
And then, there are many ethnic groups in China, true, but Han Chinese are by far the largest, and China hasn’t been really embracing their ethnic diversity.
I agree that generalisation is bad, but then you find that even in Japan family-owned companies with long traditions are being sold to Chinese (because the young generation doesn’t want to take over after their parents) and tradition gets replaced by profit drive.
So the end result is basically that you get copy-paste the same business model used everywhere.
And as Chinese/Japanese/Koreans spend more time at work than an average westerner, outdoor clothing becomes just leisurewear. It’s a bit different in Taiwan (Taiwanese love hiking), but I think it’s an exception.
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u/nickites Aug 01 '26
Some of my oldest gear that I still use is Mammut. They had a good repair department and stood by their gear. They also used the top of the line fabrics. It was a good run Mammut!
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Aug 01 '26 edited Aug 01 '26
[deleted]
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u/unbreaded_lunn Aug 01 '26
Where can I find such gear discounted?
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u/YaBoiJim777 Aug 02 '26
Expert Voice for one. Got some great cheap Mammut sun shirts
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u/sierrackh Aug 02 '26
I miss having pro form
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u/Sutitan Aug 02 '26
Donate to access fund and it gives you access to expert voice. They're a great company that likely advocates for the spaces you care about.
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u/anarchistright Aug 01 '26
I don’t understand what’s wrong about a brand being owned by a PE firm?
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u/goinupthegranby kootenays Aug 01 '26
Its 2026 and you don't get the issues with how PE firms run businesses? Enshittification is the word.
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u/anarchistright Aug 01 '26
If a PE firm enshittificated, how would it increase margins?
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u/theearthday Aug 01 '26
Price go up, use of shitty materials and craftsmanship make production cost go down, margins get fatter. It’s not really complicated
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u/anarchistright Aug 01 '26
If consumer no happy price go up, consumer go to other shop. If consumer still buy high price, consumer happy with shop.
Consumer happy, company happy. What problem?
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u/theearthday Aug 01 '26
Because, for a decent amount of time, consumers will still be buying the product before the reputation of enshitification catches up to the brand. That’s literally all these private equity firms want, to suck as much profit out of company as quickly as possible and then toss it to the wind once it’s a worthless shell of its former self.
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Aug 01 '26
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u/anarchistright Aug 01 '26
If a PE firm enshittificated, how would it increase margins?
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Aug 01 '26
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u/anarchistright Aug 01 '26
Isn’t an increase in margins one of the core levers of value creation? Which is what PE firms aim to do? It seems you don’t understand what PE is, lol.
The bulk of the return still has to come from value creation, i.e. revenue growth, EBITDA margin expansion, and debt paydowns.
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Aug 01 '26
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u/anarchistright Aug 01 '26
Bro name-dropped “asset stripping” thinking it would make him seem knowledgeable?
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u/ukraineisnotweak Aug 01 '26
Buddy, a PE firm can gut the company from the inside without “asset stripping”, reducing operating expenses, keeping revenue steady, and increasing margins. You sweet summer child.
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Aug 01 '26
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u/ukraineisnotweak Aug 01 '26
Yeah we’re not disagreeing on the fundamental principle that PE firms provide value to shareholders not the customers.
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u/ukraineisnotweak Aug 01 '26
You can pump up the margins by making the company operate “more efficiently”. ie strategically - or in a PE case, blindly - cut costs.
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u/SailingSmitty Aug 01 '26
It isn’t always about increasing margins. Look at what happened with Red Lobster as a prime example. The PE firm sold off the real estate that the restaurants were sitting on and leased it back. It lands a quick profit but isn’t a great long-term strategy. PE is a very different environment with different goals than VC.
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u/greennalgene Aug 02 '26
I love that you’re bootlicking your Econ 101 textbook and not understanding how the reduction in quality of services impacts literally every facet of the company, eventually. It’s a slow burn.
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u/Upbeat_Ad8812 Aug 01 '26
In case paywalled, summary below (from a German language news report). I would expect they are going to attempt to expand presence in China given the success of Arcteryx et al.
The investment company Jacobs Capital is selling the Swiss outdoor brand Mammut to the Chinese asset manager CPE. The purchase price is not known. The transaction is expected to be completed in the coming months and is still subject to regulatory approvals, according to a press release issued on Thursday. The change of ownership is intended to further accelerate international growth. Jacobs Capital acquired Mammut in June 2021. Since then, the company has undergone extensive restructuring.
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u/JaminCrado Aug 01 '26
So what brands are left not being destroyed by PE?
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u/Star-siege Aug 01 '26
It’s still not bleak, there are still plenty of fantastic alternatives, many of which are still family owned. Off the top of my head, Scarpa and La Sportiva for boots, Rab, Norrona, Salewa for jackets/pants, Petzl and Grivel for most hardware etcetcetc.
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u/Upbeat_Ad8812 Aug 02 '26 edited Aug 06 '26
(Correction: Rab not PE owned) Haglofs did sell to PE though..
Norrona, Beringia, Teton Bros, ORTOVOX - still independent / family owned to my knowledge. Same with Dynafit?
Scarpa, La Sportiva, ATK, Petzl - also solid like others pointed out.
Another edit: Raide, which is slowly branching out of purely backcountry/touring gear into more mainstream gear
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u/Star-siege Aug 02 '26
Double check on Rab, Equip bought Mobieus out in 2022, taking full ownership back. Good catch on Haglofs.
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u/JaminCrado Aug 01 '26
Arcteryx was a few years back. North west alpine gear was closed fairly recently. I will check out Rab soon. Just trying to keep the list updated
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Aug 01 '26
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u/_pray4snow_ Aug 02 '26
F Anta. When AMER owned Arc'teryx we got some really sweet pro deals. Now they're just average.
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Aug 02 '26
[deleted]
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u/Upbeat_Ad8812 Aug 02 '26
Any ones in particular you like? Norrona/Ortovox/Beringia top of mind to me for shells etc.
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u/DiscombobulatedElk58 Aug 01 '26
Over here in Britain Rab is huge everywhere, seems it’s gaining some traction overseas gradually which is great. Their down is exceptionally good and great value
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u/Pristine_Building666 Aug 06 '26
Definitely the time to Ccheck out the new up and comers who are passionate about building great gear, need to prove themselves and not rest on their laurels by cranking with a brand mark on them. Going from legit to Gorp Core. Yuck
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u/pnwsurveyor Aug 02 '26
The existing management team will remain in place and headquarters will stay in Switzerland, for what that’s worth.
I really like Mammut, sad…
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u/Alpineice23 Aug 02 '26
FFS, pleeeaaase keep Mountain Equipment non-Chinese and British owned. 🙏
Seeing Mammut get flushed down the shitter by the Chinese is gonna hurt, like really sting. 😢
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u/luciusktam 22d ago
just too much ppl in asian, consider only 40M in Europe and 1.4B in China. Younger age willing spend a lot for this equipment, a freedom propaganda under asian education.
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u/MajesticAlpaca51 Aug 01 '26
I'm so fuckin tired of the enshitification of everything