Last week we heard rumors that this was in the works and today it has been confirmed – Billabong has “reached conditional agreement to acquire the California-based RVCA brand.” There’s a pretty comprehensive report over at Shop Eat Surf (here) which details Billabong’s current strategy and the benefits to both Billabong and RVCA in the deal. But the basics are that Billabong is looking to diversify and RVCA have been so successful that meeting the demand for their product is pretty damn difficult on their own. Read the full press release below.

(Via Boardistan and Shop-Eat-Surf)

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PRESS RELEASE:

JULY 11, 2010: Billabong today confirmed it had reached conditional agreement to acquire the California-based RVCA brand.

Billabong North America President Paul Naude said the acquisition signalled an exciting time in the evolution of RVCA and would afford the brand more creative freedom.

“RVCA has done an incredible job to date in terms of building its brand, differentiating its product and supporting various subcultures through its Artist Network Program, its athletes and its advocates,” said Mr Naude.

“We want to see it build on these strengths and we’ll offer the necessary support to allow it to achieve its potential.”

He said RVCA would benefit from the global infrastructure of the Billabong group.

“There comes a time in the development of a young brand when the administrative side of doing business can start to consume resources that are better applied to the creative development of the brand,” said Mr Naude.

“I think this is one of the strengths of the Billabong group. We have capabilities in areas including sourcing and the management of the supply chain, distribution and general financing and these types of support structures allow our brands to focus on product and marketing.”

Brand founder Pat Tenore said he was looking forward to working with Billabong.

“The original concept of RVCA was, and still is, to be a lifestyle brand that integrated different subcultures within one platform … a platform for likeminded people to produce great art and other creative endeavours, while getting recognition for their contribution and involvement,” said Mr Tenore.

“RVCA will be able to take this concept even further and provide a more extensive support base for the artists, athletes and advocates we work with.

“One of the key things about Billabong is its respect for the creative independence of each of its brands and that level of flexibility will allow RVCA to maintain its identity while benefiting from the support of the wider Billabong group.”