Paul Naude has resigned from Billabong.
Naude was the longtime director and president of Billabong International Ltd.’s Americas division. According to Billabong, he left to pursue other opportunities.
Naude had joined forces with American private equity firm Sycamore Partners in a bid to acquire the Australian-based firm. Those discussions began in December 2012, but talks concluded in June without an agreement in place. The Sycamore consortium initially offered 1.10 Australian dollars a share, but then in April lowered the bid to 60 Australian cents and subsequently 50 Australian cents.
Billabong has since entered into an agreement with Altamont Capital Partners, also a private equity firm. Altamont initially was part of a consortium with VF Corp., and they matched the Sycamore consortium bid at each negotiating juncture. Ultimately the discussion with the Altamont/VF consortium also ended in June without an agreement being concluded.
That transaction between Billabong and Altamont, about $365 million, has since been completed. It includes the sale of the DaKine brand to Altamont for $65 million. Altamont also has a 15 percent stake in Billabong in exchange for a $300 million bridge loan facility. The transaction is currently before the Australian Takeovers Panel.
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The deal is being contested by U.S. hedge funds Oaktree Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners, the debt holders of Billabong’s $277 million syndicated debt facility.