They want to know if he still got it
They say rap’s changed
They wanna know how I feel about it
Still SNS.
This week various press reported that Sneakersnstuff (SNS) cashed out and sold to a VC for $57 million. That is not entirely true. And as very few media have reached out to even verify it with us, I figured we needed to post this short message to straighten things out. I mean, we have always been as transparent as possible, so why stop now?
What happened was that the VC partner that we have had for the past three years was at the end of their term. We looked around for a new partner and found it in FSN Capital. And when that deal was structured – a holding company was set up. The holding company then bought all shares in SNS – and for the money that the holding company paid – myself, Peter and all other invested managers of SNS re-invested the majority of it in the new holding company. So, we pretty much swapped shares in SNS for shares in SNS Holding company.
And to be extra super transparent – we did not re-invest all of it. But the majority of it.
So, we haven’t cashed out. We have a new partner that better can support our ambition going forward. We have a new store opening in the USA this fall. And we are looking into how to open stores in Asia in 2019. We have a bar opening in New York this fall. And a club in Berlin. So for us, it is important to have the right partner who can support our vision long term.
The rumor about the $57 million comes from the evaluation that FSN made of SNS in order to replace our former VC partners. Between everyone involved, we have agreed not to publish the evaluation, but I can tell you that $57 million is not correct. That is a number someone made up. I would like to point that out, as the $57 million is now used as headline/click bait.
What happens now then? Well, there are a few raffles next week and a few launches this week. And more to come, for sure. Management and all teams remains the same. Me, Peter and our 200 people-deep SNS family will still be running SNS. There are still many years left on our journey, and we are still excited to be here.
Thank you.
Erik Fagerlind, co-founder and CEO of SNS. Still
