K-Swiss Inc. announced its purchase of French footwear company, Palladium SAS, in a two-part deal. The first 57 percent of Palladium will be purchased from shareholders by July 1 for 5.3 million Euros (or a little more than $8 million U.S. as of May 23). According to the agreement, K-Swiss will then purchase the remaining 43 percent of the French company in 2012. K-Swiss had previously acquired the Palladium trademarks for the United States and Canada for $6 million from the Consolidated Shoe Company based in Lynchburg, Virg., said David Nichols, senior vice president of Westlake Village-based K-Swiss. “The first transaction gave us the U.S.,” said Nichols, referring to the Consolidated deal, “and the second gave us the rest of the world.” Like K-Swiss, Palladium’s fortunes have been staked on a decades-old original shoe design. K-Swiss has the Classic tennis shoe and Palladium the Pallabrousse. Known in the U.S. as the “baggy boot,” the lug-soled, canvas-topped shoe is, according to the Palladium website, “the preferred shoe for the French army, scouts, hunters and world travelers.”
