Timberland booth at Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City, UT in February.

VF Corporation continues their global domination plans for the outdoor and action sports industries with today’s big announcement that it’s merging with Timberland and Smartwool in an estimated $2 billion net cash deal, paying shareholders $43 per share. The goal, according to VF is to engage in a “transformative acquisition” that will create a $10 billion-dollar global apparel and footwear “powerhouse.”

VF, which also owns The North Face, Vans, Reef, Eastpak, John Varvatos, Lee, Rock and Republic, and Wrangler, among others, believes adding Timberland will enhance their lead in the outdoor industry especially, with Timberland’s heritage reputation for quality and technologically advanced footwear. Timberland, which tends to do a great deal of their business actually in Europe, and are extremely popular in Japan, which is currently riding the wave of demanding Americana styles, may round-out the VF portfolio in new ways.

VF tends to group their outdoor and action sports categories together, so it’s often difficult to see which segment is doing what, financially, but with the addition of Timberland and Smartwool, the goal is to boost VF’s outdoor and action sports business to 50% of their total revenues. Other goals include greater direct-to-consumer sales, and concentrating on the women’s footwear and apparel industries.

Here’s more from the transaction:

“The Timberland