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CNN Live At Daybreak
Nike Buys Converse for $305 Million
Aired July 10, 2003 - 06:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well time to check on business. Nike is going retro, adding a nearly century old sneaker maker to its footlocker.
Let's get the details on the deal from Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market.
Hi -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka, good morning to you.
That's right, Nike is buying Converse for $305 million plus debt. And the cultural significance of this deal is almost more interesting than the money, that's because Converse practically invented the basketball shoe, dominating the sneaker market from the 1920s through the 1970s with its famous canvass Chuck Taylor All Stars.
Well things changed in the 1980s, Nike went high tech, signed on Michael Jordan and overtook Converse as the leading basketball shoemaker. Now Converse did file for bankruptcy protection in 2001. To date, it's produced about 750 million shoes in nearly 100 years. Last year, Converse had $205 million in sales compared with Nike's $10 billion, so a real David and Goliath here. And by the way, Chuck's won't be getting the Nike swoosh. Nike says that it will continue to -- Converse will continue to operate as a separate company.
Just a little bit of trivia, Chuck's were actually named after Chuck Taylor. He was a semi-professional basketball player. He toured the country in the 1920s through the '60s and actually sold the Chuck's out of the back of his car, Fredricka. So rather humble beginnings now becoming part of Nike.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: I think everybody has had some Chuck Taylor's at some point, have you?
LEE: Well they're really -- I don't have them, but they've really become the anti-establishment shoe. People who don't want to go with the big corporate Nike image have gone to Chuck's recently. So very different ideas here and now will be part of the same company.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Carrie.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 10, 2003 - 06:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well time to check on business. Nike is going retro, adding a nearly century old sneaker maker to its footlocker.
Let's get the details on the deal from Carrie Lee at the Nasdaq market.
Hi -- Carrie.
CARRIE LEE, CNN FINANCIAL NEWS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fredricka, good morning to you.
That's right, Nike is buying Converse for $305 million plus debt. And the cultural significance of this deal is almost more interesting than the money, that's because Converse practically invented the basketball shoe, dominating the sneaker market from the 1920s through the 1970s with its famous canvass Chuck Taylor All Stars.
Well things changed in the 1980s, Nike went high tech, signed on Michael Jordan and overtook Converse as the leading basketball shoemaker. Now Converse did file for bankruptcy protection in 2001. To date, it's produced about 750 million shoes in nearly 100 years. Last year, Converse had $205 million in sales compared with Nike's $10 billion, so a real David and Goliath here. And by the way, Chuck's won't be getting the Nike swoosh. Nike says that it will continue to -- Converse will continue to operate as a separate company.
Just a little bit of trivia, Chuck's were actually named after Chuck Taylor. He was a semi-professional basketball player. He toured the country in the 1920s through the '60s and actually sold the Chuck's out of the back of his car, Fredricka. So rather humble beginnings now becoming part of Nike.
Back to you.
WHITFIELD: I think everybody has had some Chuck Taylor's at some point, have you?
LEE: Well they're really -- I don't have them, but they've really become the anti-establishment shoe. People who don't want to go with the big corporate Nike image have gone to Chuck's recently. So very different ideas here and now will be part of the same company.
WHITFIELD: All right, thanks a lot, Carrie.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
