North Kiteboarding announced that it will join forces with Mystic. They call it a "strategic alliance."
Professionals from both companies will run the recently created watersports company, North Actionsports Group (NTG).
The financial terms of the deal have not been revealed, and it is not clear whether North Kiteboarding has bought Mystic or if they just joined forces equally.
Mystic is a Dutch kiteboarding, windsurfing, stand-up paddleboarding, and wakeboarding company founded in 2002 by Max Blom Jr. and Hans Schaap.
Ruben Lenten, Boujmaa Guilloul, Bruna Kajiya, Robby Swift, Marc Jacobs, Taty Frans, and Niccolo Porcella are some of its high-profile team members.
"Today marks the beginning of what I believe will be a further turning point for our industry. The combination of North and Mystic brings together two great brands and creates a new dynamic enterprise under the NTG umbrella," notes Blom Jr.
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The Mystic management will remain unchanged and based in the Netherlands. The brand will continue focusing on wetsuits, harnesses, impact vests, helmets, and clothing.
It is expected that from now on, North Kiteboarding will have access to the distribution structure, IT systems, and resources built by Mystic.
North Kiteboarding has recently lost its founders, who parted ways to launch Duotone but will remain active with dual headquarters in New Zealand and the Netherlands.
"It's great news for North Kiteboarding because it strengthens our foundations and will make us more efficient moving forward with the extra infrastructure provided by Mystic," concludes Mike Raper, brand director at North Kiteboarding.
The North Actionsports Group stresses that it will make further announcements in 2019.