Quiksilver president resigns
Bernard Mariette, president and director of branded apparel, footwear, winter sports equipment and accessories company Quiksilver, Inc. has resigned from his post in order to pursue other interests, which may even include attempting to acquire the company’s Rossignol group.
He has been replaced, with immediate effect, by chairman and chief executive Robert McKnight, who held the position prior to Mr Mariette.
Commenting on Mr Mariette’s departure, Mr McKnight, said: “Bernard Mariette has, for fifteen years, been invaluable to the growth and success of this company. He took Quiksilver Europe from its development stage in 1994 and grew it to a €250 million business by 2001 when he became president of the entire company. Since 2001 Quiksilver has almost quadrupled in size and, under Bernard’s leadership, has established an infrastructure to globalise Quiksilver’s historically regional businesses and cemented its position as a leading global lifestyle company.”
He added: “Our business objectives today are clear. We will focus our attention on our Quiksilver, Roxy and DC businesses, both to continue their healthy growth and to improve their operating results. At the same time, we will seek to further reduce our exposure to the winter sports equipment businesses we acquired in 2005, including pursuing a sale of the businesses and we will work to improve our balance sheet. As we move forward, our entire organisation is deeply committed to executing this plan.”
