A thought experiment: will Leatherman Tool Group be sold?

[powernoodle]

I'm not predicting that Leatherman will be sold to an investment group or big corporation, but from an outsider's perspective its not the craziest thing that could happen.

Why?

1 - Leatherman has moved away its core principles, i.e., the production of simple, awesome and affordable multitools.  Of course, much of this is the natural evolution of a multitool company because after you release the PST, PST II, Kick, Fuse, Blast, Core and Wave, what else are you going to do?  Release them again?  And inflation, being what it is, makes it impossible to release a $29 Fuse these days.  Nonetheless, the very thing that got me into Leatherman MTs is long gone.  Yet I keep Chasing The Dragon.

2 - Multitool evolution can only take you so far.  Simplicity in design and manufacturing have their limits.  When Leatherman hit the apex of that arc  (<<pun!), what are they supposed to do after that?  The only place you can go is into supposed "premium" blade steel (something no one wants IMO), G10, magnets and new "colorways" (which sound better than new "colors").  Again, we can't really blame Leatherman for this because there is no where else to go after releasing the Wave+.  Can't go up.  Gotta go sideways.  If you look at the list of Leatherman products, past and present, you see that they have done an awesome job of wringing our every possible MT, knife and tool that the Leatherman brain trust can imagine.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leatherman

3 - Chinese MTs.  Like a swarm of airborne drones flying over the border, Chinese MTs are flooding in on Amazon, Ali Express and elsewhere.  Quality MTs at sometimes 25% of the MSRP of a similar Leatherman product.  Sorry, Leatherman, but they are great.  Many have 88% of Leatherman quality and 100% of Leatherman utility for $30.  What else is Leatherman to do but shift its focus?  And these inexpensive Chinese MTs can easily experiment with non-Leatherman features, like 1/4" bit drivers - which are awesome.  Or finely serrated scissors, which are great.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CSD2SF4R

4 - Leatherman is transitioning into what some call "lifestyle" products, and women are more prominently displayed in social media advertisements.  "Bayside" Micras in pink and green are a long way from the good old days. 

5 - The recent "lottery" or Vault "sale", which turned out to be no sale at all.  But at least they called us all Losers after it was over.  It got so bad the the Leatherman Facebook group now includes the term "Loser" in the group title.  Is this the future of Leatherman?  What's this have to do with the theory that Leatherman could be sold?  Not much, really.  Its just an example of the weird things going on at Leatherman that seem out of character - or at least contrary to the company values I think I once remembered.

5 - Tim Leatherman is 77 years old.  According to Leatherman's website, he has a son "Lee" who "runs the innovative gears behind The Garage."  Garage innovation?  It doesn't exist.  Consider Spyderco founder Sal Glesser at age 72.  For many years, his son Eric has been a designer and partner in the operation.  Basically the frontman.  Maybe there is something similar going on behind the scenes at Leatherman, but its not on public display.  Consider also Lynn Thompson, who founded the awesome Cold Steel knife company in 1980.  It was sold in 2020 to GSM Outdoors, though Lynn remained involved.  You cannot blame a man for turning his company into a giant pile of cash in his retirement years.  In fact, that may be the whole point of an innovative company in the first place.

6 - Tim Leatherman, with a ghost writer, is this year releasing The Leatherman Book: Stories, Lessons, and Advice from the Inventor of America's Original Multi-Tool.  If there was ever an epilogue or swan song to Leatherman - this would be it.

All of the pieces are there.  But these pieces are only an outsider's perspective.  Who knows what is going on at Leatherman HQ.  I'm not predicting that Leatherman will be sold in the next few years - but it should not surprise us if it happens.  Its the circle of life.

[charlie fox]

I think this is a fair assessment. Leatherman as a company has made a huge impact on the world but there's only so far that can be taken. And discontinuing popular line such as the Juice and Squirt has damaged the company's populartiy with enthusiasts.

[ThisAlarm7]

That's an astute assessment and well defended....I hope you're wrong. I especially hope it isn't gobbled up by private equity losers and run into the ground.

#3 is true, but also the most unfortunate point. I've seen some quality products from them but I'd never buy them, both because I want quality American brands and products to flourish and also because of extreme ideological antipathy toward the CCP. I'll leave it at that.

[LoopCutter]

I am sure LMTG has been approached, dressed up a few models with fancy pastel named colors, a new version of the WAVE+, pulled old stock from retailers to reintroduced at a later date, (create a shortage) and reintroduce. 

The comment, they repeat, “we listen to our customers”!  Or, the announcement of being the “lifestyle choice”, branding themselves at had top of the market.

Yet, I suspect, any potential buyer, is eyeing expiring patents, the name branding potential, and if they divide up segments of the business Will they sell for more than the whole.   Ex:  buy a PIE FOR $8, then cut into 8 pieces and sell for $3 a slice type of sale.

Regardless, consumers will loose, Oregon will loose, Portland will loose and employees will loose.

I will admit, LM seems to attract the under 30 crowd with color and products. Over the last three weeks I witnessed three very different examples.

First, a young mom with two kids walking the trail at Eagle Marsh, (a wetlands project), with a Skeletool clipped to her backpack/gadget mom bag.

Second, at grocery, a near 30 yo with a RED MICRA on her key chain, followed her out and saw her load items in her same color JEEP LIBERTY…

Third, at lunch, a smart looking young lady, with hard hat, safety vest and Carhart Brown lady cut vest, eating lunch, with a LM nylon sheath, with what I assumed was a bright SS REBAR on her hip attached to her belt. That was the matching color to her hard toe 6” work boots.

I thought to myself, wow, trends have changed, I use to notice guys at work sites with tools, now I checking accessories on the girls.

Guess which one I found to appear to be the most appealing???

If you selected the burnette!  You would have been correct!

[powernoodle]

The expiration of patents is a good point.   

[gadgetman7]

Those are good points and it’s the second time I’ve heard them. If it does sell, I hope it goes to a USA company. It’d be great if someone like GOAT tools or even Spyderco bought them but I doubt it will happen. I’m not sure what their market valuation is but it’s probably more than those companies could come up with.