Surf Bizness
Billabong shares have again had a trading halt on their shares as the company reviews the two offers. The Wall Street Journal reported that the two U.S. consortia competing to acquire Billabong International Ltd have lowered their bids from an initial 526.8 million Australian dollars.  An announcement by the company is due to be made this Thursday in which we should see their response (including that of 14.5 per cent shareholder and Billabong founder Gordon Merchant) to the bids.

Meanwhile a former surf brand, Nike, has announced revenues have increased 9 percent to $6.2 billion in the last year, saying there was “growth in all geographies except Greater China and Japan and in all key categories except Sportswear and Action Sports. Revenues for Other Businesses increased 9 percent as growth at Converse and Nike Golf more than offset lower revenues at Hurley.”

Finally, if you can stand the excitement, PPR, the owners of Volcom, Electric (as well as  Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen, Balenciaga etc) have announced a name change. The French group will now be called Kering (pronounced caring in English). The rebranding exercise was said to cost as much as the Cyprus bank bailout.

Finally shares in Surf Europe have skyrocketed, following the news of the recovery of its Editor from a nasty testicle rash.

Big Wave Boot Camp
A bit like the X-Factor’s boot camp, just without that scank Tulisa and pre-pubscent pop pindicks, Surf Sanctuary’s Big Wave Boot Camp is to be held in Cornwall on 13-14 April. This is the UK’s first and only Big Wave Boot Camp and combines ocean based and physical training to help you step up to the big stuff, as well as tuition in the use specialised boards and equipment used, plus survival techniques for heavy wipeouts. In the first lesson, you’ll be dropped from a 20 foot crane, into a bath, while instructors Rob Small and Dom Moore blast you with a fire house. After that, the Cribbar beckons.
http://surfsanctuary.co.uk/bigwave.html

Grom Search Is Back On!
The 2013 Rip Curl GromsSeach presented by Posca is all set to kick of for 2013, including 12 events across France, UK, Portugal and Spain, featuring three age divisions for boys and girls. This year features a brand new “Search” style final for the Under 16s, with organisers having a waiting period and a mobile brief to pick the best waves in all of Europe for the finals. The winners will then go to represent Europe at the International finals at Bells next year. This year Leonardo Fioravanti did just that and took out the title. Go to Rip Curl for all the dates and deets.

Silent Auction
The world’s premier surf auction, the Vintage Surf Auction have 40 boards available in a silent online auction. Some of the boards have bids as lows a $100. A clip below shows just six of the boards available. The site also has a load of sneek peaks for the upcoming auction on May 11, which is themed under Californian Gold. If you have a love for 40 year old fibreglass and wads and wads of cash, this is the site for you.