Crocs Gets $200 Million Bailout, Tries for New Look - East Idaho News
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Crocs Gets $200 Million Bailout, Tries for New Look

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ABC 123013 CrocsShoe?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1388428689692 Lego Crocs are for sale online. (Crocs.com)(NEW YORK) — Crocs Inc. has received a $200 million bailout from a private equity company with the hope of reviving the once hugely-popular shoe company.

The new investor, Blackstone Group, hopes Crocs will close some U.S. stores, expand in Asia and offer new products, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The company has already introduced high heels and other types of shoes, but they have not been as popular as their light-weight clogs that the company says “discourages” sweating. The company says its “Croslite” material is neither plastic nor rubber.

As part of the deal, Blackstone Group is getting a 13 percent ownership in the company in preferred stock and two seats on the board of the publicly-traded shoe and accessories company. Meanwhile Crocs chief executive John McCarvel is retiring and giving up his board seat around the end of April.

On Monday, shares of Crocs Inc. surged more than 20 percent to $16.03 mid-day, but still well below its highs of $60 around 2007, a year after the company went public.

Crocs did not respond to a request for comment.

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