Globe and Mail - Playing heads-up business

An iconic Canadian enterprise with its roots in Kitchener, Ont., in the 1920s, hockey equipment maker Bauer fell into U.S. hands in 1995 when Nike Inc. bought its parent company. Then, in 2008, U.S. private equity firm Kohlberg Sports Group Inc. picked up Bauer from Nike. Last week, with a $75-million initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange of 33 per cent of the equity of Bauer Performance Sports Ltd., part of the company returned to Canadian hands. CEO Kevin Davis, who stick-handled three recent acquisitions for Bauer – including companies that produce roller hockey and lacrosse equipment – is leading the charge to keep the company in expansion mode…

"How do you make technological advances in sports equipment? We do a lot of biomechanical research with McGill University. We take those insights, and combine them with what we take from players. We don’t just talk to folks in the NHL, we talk to players of all abilities and ages. And we have a materials group that is second to none. In the skate that we just came out with – the Supreme Total One – the material for the upper came from Formula One race cars. [Our team] is looking at aerospace and things far outside of sporting goods to make sure we find the best materials…"