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Easton-Bell Founders Hit Home Run With Deal

The founding family of Easton-Bell Sports Inc. is further distancing itself from the struggling sporting goods manufacturer. Easton Foundations, led by Jim Easton, has sold the company’s Van Nuys headquarters building for $12.4 million. Easton was a second-generation owner of the sporting goods manufacturer, but sold most of his stake about seven years ago to Fenway Partners LLC, a New York private equity firm. However, the foundation retained ownership of the building after Easton-Bell Sports was acquired until the building sold on Nov. 20. The 80,000-square-foot Easton Building at 7855 Haskell Ave. was bought by VNSH LLC of Los Angeles. Real estate data firm CoStar Group Inc. describes the buyer as an individual investor. Lynwood Fields, a partner at Madison Partners in Los Angeles and one of the listing brokers on the deal, said Easton-Bell Sports will not be vacating the building. “They still have three years left on their lease,” he said. The three-story building was constructed in 1986 and is fully leased with Easton occupying about 85 percent of the space. Caren Sawyer, executive director for the Easton Foundations, said Easton-Bell Sports was paying the foundation rent as a tenant, but that the group no longer wanted to own the property. “As a foundation, we decided it doesn’t make sense for us to own an office building anymore,” she said. Easton-Bell Sports did not respond to calls for comment. The sale comes following a turbulent year for the sporting goods manufacturer. In its fiscal third quarter earnings released last month, Easton-Bell reported a net loss of $8.7 million and a more than 6 percent drop in sales. The company is privately held but reports limited financial information because its debt, which amounts to nearly $350 million, trades on public markets. In April, there were reports that Easton-Bell was on the market for about $900 million. Both Easton-Bell and Fenway Partners have declined to comment on the matter. And in February, the company appointed Terry Lee as its chief executive after the sudden retirement of Paul Harrington, its previous chief, who Easton said wanted to spend more time with his family. Still, the company remains one of the larger players in the sporting goods industry, with 32 facilities worldwide and lucrative contracts, most notably for its Riddell brand, which makes the official helmet of the National Football League. Easton Foundations was also represented by Gary Weiss, principal, and Jennifer Frisk, senior director, at L.A. Realty Partners. The buyer was represented by Thomas Kim at GTR Consulting Group Inc. of Los Angeles. Getting in Shape After several years of withering away into bankruptcy, the Santa Clarita Athletic Center is off to a fresh start. The Newhall gym, open under several different names at 24640 Wiley Canyon Road for more than 20 years, was leased in October by Wade Davis, who owns Ohio gyms. “It was a friend of a friend kind of thing,” said Davis, who operates seven Premier Fitness Center gyms in the Miami Valley of Ohio and two Ideal Fitness gyms in Cincinnati. “I was made aware of the circumstances in Santa Clarita, and so I looked into it,” he added. The lease term is 15 years but no other financial information was made available. The 65,000-square-foot gym was foreclosed on in March after the past owner struggled to keep it alive. In May, it was bought by Frank and Hilda Zeng, two private investors, for $4 million, according to CoStar. Irwin Hyman, senior vice president at the Encino office of NAI Capital Inc. represented Davis in the lease. He said the space was difficult to rent because the business had been losing members as it went into bankruptcy and the subsequent foreclosure. “It did have membership, but for the last three to five years, it had been running on automatic pilot,” he said. Davis said he was able to resume business at the gym without the doors closing. His long-term plans for the club, which he compares more to a YMCA than a conventional gym, include repaving the driveway, replacing the roof and painting. Davis said he also is spending some $250,000 on cardiovascular and weight equipment. “We’re putting a lot of money into this. I see a real long-term opportunity,” he said. Davis said the gym had about 5,000 members when he took over, and he has increased that number by more than 500 already. In addition to regular gym amenities, the club has a racquetball court, basketball court, swimming pool, fencing studio and hair salon. Staff Reporter Elliot Golan can be reached at (818)316-3123 or [email protected].

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