High schools coaches are scrambling for football helmets as practices are but months away. The problem surfaced last year but remains acute. Matt Stoller's Big reported private equity underwriters (PEU) have cornered the helmet market.
Riddell is owned by private equity giant Fenway Partners, which has been trying to find a merger strategy for the firm for the last fifteen years. And its rival Schutt is owned by Innovatus Capital Partners, which put out a press release announcing its intent to consolidate the space in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Concussions have been a big issue for manufacturers. The greed and leverage boys are good at ring fencing risk at the affiliate level. They are also known for starving affiliates of capital in stressful market conditions.
If liability becomes a big enough issue I wouldn't be surprised if the PEU boys dump Riddell or Schutt onto debt holders. Disrupters disrupt until they get disrupted.
