Skechers to Go Private: 3G Capital's $9.4 Billion Acquisition Shakes Up Footwear Industry

Skechers Bids Farewell to Wall Street with a Game-Changing Acquisition

About once a decade, a deal comes along that stirs up old brands and investors alike. That’s exactly what happened this week when Skechers—the world’s third-largest footwear brand—decided to exit the public stage. It’s been a fixture on the stock market for 26 years. But now, as tariffs and trade talks heat up, Skechers has struck a $9.4 billion buyout deal with Brazilian private equity powerhouse 3G Capital. The offer values each share at $63, which is a whopping 30% jump from what the company was worth just days earlier. Ouch for anyone who didn’t get in sooner.

This isn’t just any old sale. Skechers is letting shareholders choose how they cash out. They can get $57 per share right away and roll over the rest into 3G’s new holding company. Whatever investors pick, CEO Robert Greenberg, the man behind Skechers’ rise from scrappy upstart to global “Dad shoe” staple, is staying firmly at the controls. That’s a twist—3G Capital has a record of making bold moves with brands like Burger King and Popeyes, but they see value in keeping Skechers’ leadership intact. Greenberg is painting this as a chance to focus on 'real' long-term growth, away from the stress of quarterly reports and market rumors.

Trade Tensions, Record Sales, and What 3G Sees in Skechers

Timing is everything. Just last month, Skechers stopped offering financial forecasts for 2025, blaming jitters about political fights over trade. More tariffs? A new White House agenda? No one knows. It sounds dicey, but Skechers insists that these potential tariffs weren’t what drove them to sell. Still, the numbers are hard to ignore: more than 80% of the shoes Skechers sells in the U.S. come from factories in China and Vietnam—precisely the places most at risk from proposed Trump-era tariffs coming back again.

But here’s the twist: Skechers’ real growth engine is global. The U.S. only brings in about one-third of its overall sales. Two-thirds comes from markets spread across Asia, Europe, and everywhere else Americans hunt for sneakers. That’s partly why 3G Capital is betting big. Even with the looming trade mess, the company just posted quarterly numbers you can’t ignore: $2.41 billion in sales for Q1 of 2025, up 7 percent compared to last year. Investors had started to sweat, but 3G Capital and analyst groups like Evercore are reading this as proof that Skechers’ brand can weather more than just tariffs—it can shape trends and keep buyers excited even when times get tough.

The industry buzzed after the announcement. Some wondered if Skechers’ move to join a coalition for tariff exemptions was a tip-off that deal talks were in the works. After all, the Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, where Skechers is a key player, has been scrambling for relief from the tariff storm. So this buyout is more than a big payday—it’s a test of whether a company built on affordable, mass-appeal footwear can dodge global trade chaos and still keep its “comfort over hype” promise to shoppers.

Skechers isn’t just running from trouble. The brand’s private future with 3G looks less like a retreat, and more like a reset. No public spotlight, no short-term panic—just a shot at scaling up overseas, tweaking supply chains without every move under Wall Street’s microscope, and proving that, sometimes, the smart money really does know when to step off the trading floor.