Rottefella-Fischer partnership

I found this Swedish article (Jan 23 2006)

http://www.skidsport.com/shownews.asp?ID=4320

After a bit of digging (the Rottefella site has a horrible FLASH-
based navigation menu !! ) I found:
in Norwegian:
http://www.rottefella.com/norsk/lesnyhet.cfm/?dok_id=60
in English:
http://www.rottefella.com/english/le...cfm/?dok_id=62

Rottefella has entered into a partnership with Fischer
which will make it the largest XC ski binding company in the
world, and make the NNN binding system the world standard.

(I am a NNN person :-)

--

David Dermott , Wolfville Ridge, Nova Scotia, Canada
email:
WWW pages: http://www.dermott.ca/index.html

David: I din't read the article. Is Fischer going to make their boot
soles NNN?

Do you really think there will be a universal binding standard?

I am a Solomon guy - kind of by randomness because I just happened to
find some good used Sol boots on close out when I bought my first
decent pair of striding skis and then found some good used skis with
sol. bindings (still have and still love - proving blind luck sometimes
works out). I've stuck with Sol because of the expense of changing
over bindings. I'm happy with the fit of my new Sol boots though and
actually tried others, but went with the binding system I had, in spite
of higher cost boots (you might know, the Carbons, over priced, are the
ones that really fit best).

Same with skating. I actually won a set of Fischer skating skis with
Sol. bumblebee boots as my first set. I'm kind of concerned because
I'll need to replace the boots in the next year or so and have never
been totally happy with the comfort of my bumblebees and have tried
Fischer boots and they are not even close. If I switch to Alpina or
Rossy, I'll have to buy about $200 + of new bindings.

All this is to say I WOULD LOVE A TRUELY UNIVERSAL BINDING SYSTEM. I
just can't understand any real value of the Sol. system - any real,
meaningful advantage over NNN. I have NO idea why two systems were
developed.

Camilo wrote:
David: I din't read the article. Is Fischer going to make their boot
soles NNN?

Do you really think there will be a universal binding standard?

I am a Solomon guy - kind of by randomness because I just happened to
find some good used Sol boots on close out when I bought my first
decent pair of striding skis and then found some good used skis with
sol. bindings (still have and still love - proving blind luck
sometimes works out). I've stuck with Sol because of the expense of
changing over bindings. I'm happy with the fit of my new Sol boots
though and actually tried others, but went with the binding system I
had, in spite of higher cost boots (you might know, the Carbons, over
priced, are the ones that really fit best).

Same with skating. I actually won a set of Fischer skating skis with
Sol. bumblebee boots as my first set. I'm kind of concerned because
I'll need to replace the boots in the next year or so and have never
been totally happy with the comfort of my bumblebees and have tried
Fischer boots and they are not even close. If I switch to Alpina or
Rossy, I'll have to buy about $200 + of new bindings.

All this is to say I WOULD LOVE A TRUELY UNIVERSAL BINDING SYSTEM. I
just can't understand any real value of the Sol. system - any real,
meaningful advantage over NNN. I have NO idea why two systems were
developed.

Competition, to make the best solution?

In my humble opinion, the Solomon flex rubber falls off and gets lost very
often, but the NNN flex stays were it is supposed to stay. I have used both.

--
Terje Henriksen
Kirkenes

A copy of the press release (in english) can be found he
http://www.skinnyski.com/gear/display.asp?Id=4067

FWIW:
"Fischer has for a long time been a cross country skiing partner with
Salomon of France and their competing SNS-system. According to Fischer,
the contract with Salomon will be terminated after the winter season
2006/2007."

What gets really crazy in all of this, is that (I _assume) Fischer will
want its skiers to quit using their current boots and switch all their
skis over to Rottefella bindings. Meanwhile, (I _assume) Atomic will
want its skiers to quit using their current boots and switch over the
Salomon bindings. Maybe we should set up a clearing house for bindings
where you can exchange 1 for 1. Boy, it gets interesting.

Jay Wenner

Actually, that's a good idea Jay. I am always surprised that there
aren't more used bindings floating around. I guess people just stick
with a system - as I said, I have. But I'd be much more likely to
willingly change if the bindings weren't so expensive (when considering
several sets).

Yeah, I read about the switch to NNN in Russian a week ago. I never
particularly liked Fischer boots (they look dull to me), but if it
helps create more competition and leads to overall product improvement,
so be it.

Welcome to the world of Mergers & Acquisitions. The reason for this
new deal it that Solomon had to end its partnership due to
competition/antitrust regulatory directives from the European
Commission due to being acquired by Amer Group, which owns Atomic. The
Atomic/Soloman/Fischer triumvirate would have controlled the
cross-country ski market in many European countries.

It has nothing to do with the merits of the two binding systems or
making users switch.

no, i'd say the thing that is due to wanting to make people switch
bindings is that new striding binding system by Sol. I'm very
skeptical so far...

Here is the text and link to the European Commission Press Release:

http://europa.eu.int/rapid/pressRele...guiLanguage=en

Mergers:

Commission clears planned acquisition of Salomon by Amer Group, subject
to conditions

Reference: IP/05/1267 Date: 13/10/2005

IP/05/1267

Brussels, 13 October 2005

Mergers: Commission clears planned acquisition of Salomon by Amer
Group, subject to conditions

The European Commission has cleared under the EU Merger Regulation the
proposed acquisition by Finnish winter sport hard goods manufacturer
Amer Group of the Salomon business segment of Germany’s Adidas-Salomon
AG. The Commission's clearance is conditional upon substantial
modifications of the current cooperation agreement between Salomon and
the Austrian ski manufacturer Fischer GmbH. In light of these
commitments, the Commission has concluded that the transaction would
not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic
Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

"Consolidation in the skiing equipment industry cannot be allowed to
lead to higher prices, lower quality or less innovative products.
However, the commitments given by Amer will ensure that the merged
entity will face sufficient competition pressure in all winter sport
equipment markets ", Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said.

Amer agreed to acquire the entire issued share capital and assets of
the Salomon business of Adidas Salomon. Both companies manufacture and
sell winter sport hard goods like alpine and cross-country skis and
accessories (such as bindings and boots). The Amer Group is active in
these markets through its wholly-owned subsidiary Atomic Austria GmbH.

The transaction was subject to mandatory merger filings under the
national merger control laws of six Member States, namely Austria,
Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom. All Member States
agreed with the parties’ application of to refer the case to the
Commission.

The Commission's investigation showed that the proposed acquisition of
Salomon by Amer could significantly reduce competition in the markets
for cross-country skis, in particular in Austria, Germany and France.

Salomon and Fischer GmbH, currently the leading manufacturer of
cross-country skis in the world, entered into a cooperation agreement
in 1997 which has intensified over the years. As a result of the
notified transaction, this close link between Salomon and Fischer in
the segment of cross-country skis would have been extended to
Amer/Atomic, Fischer’s main competitor in cross-country skis in
Austria, Germany and France. This gave rise to the risk of a
coordinated market conduct of the leading players in these markets.

To address the Commission’s concerns, the parties have committed
themselves to a significant reduction of the scope of the cooperation
agreement between Fischer and Salomon. In particular, the elements of
the agreement which facilitate the coordination of the commercial
strategies of the parties and other clauses limiting the independent
market conduct of Fischer will be removed.



On 2006-02-09 12:46:04 -0700, "Zeke" said:

no, i'd say the thing that is due to wanting to make people switch
bindings is that new striding binding system by Sol. I'm very
skeptical so far...