BILLABONG EYEING SALE OF E-COMMERCE SITES: Billabong International has hired Guggenheim Securities to help with a possible sale of its two e-commerce businesses, SurfStitch and Swell. The Australian surfwear firm owns 100 percent of Swell and has a 51 percent stake in SurfStitch. Both businesses sell product from other brands. A sale of the two would enable Billabong to focus solely on its core Billabong business.
Shareholders last month approved of the refinancing deal for Billabong provided by Oaktree Capital Management and Centerbridge Partners, giving the financial firms a 40.8 percent stake in the surf firm.
Billabong hired Neil Fiske, former president of Eddie Bauer Holdings, as its chief executive officer last year.