Venerable hockey brand Bauer is back in the hands of an ice hockey enthusiast. On Thursday, Nike (NYSE:NKE) sold the brand to private equity investor W. Graeme Roustan, a private equity investor who grew up in Montreal and now lives in Florida. Also involved in the purchase was investment firm Kohlberg & Co. of Mount Kisco, NY.Nike paid $395 million for Bauer in 1994, betting that inline hockey would grow the brand. That bad bet, and other design mistakes, led Nike to put the company up for sale last fall. Roustan, a self-described "blade guy" paid a reported $200 million.
Over the next two years, the Nike swoosh will be phased out as the brand returns to the focus of ice hockey.
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