Who owns Rip Curl?
Rip Curl is owned by KMD Brands (New Zealand, NZX: KMD), which has owned the brand since 2019.[1]
This ownership is reported in official statements but has not yet been matched to a regulatory filing.
Evidence: KMD Brands Annual Integrated Report 2025, KMD Brands Limited. Last checked .
Key facts
- Current owner
- KMD Brands Limited reported
- Owned since
- Owner HQ
- 🇳🇿 New Zealand, Christchurch
- Origin
- 🇦🇺 Australia, Bells Beach
- Founded
- 1969
- Category
- Apparel, footwear & accessories › Sportswear & footwear › Outdoor & workwear
- Parent ticker
- NZX: KMD ASX: KMD
- Last verified
- · 1 sources
About Rip Curl
Rip Curl is a surf company founded in 1969 at Bells Beach in the Australian state of Victoria, which designs, wholesales and sells surfing equipment and apparel under the idea it calls The Search, the pursuit of the perfect wave. It became part of KMD Brands in 2019 and is now the group's largest brand, with sales of NZ$550 million in the year to 31 July 2025. It has sold more than 90,000 of its Search GPS surf watches.
Ownership timeline of Rip Curl
- 2019 – present KMD Brands [1] reported
Where Rip Curl sits in KMD Brands
Controlling ownership as of . Brands grouped under the entity that owns them; large groups are collapsed.
Open the full KMD Brands ownership tree →
See the full KMD Brands brand portfolio (3) →
Other brands owned by KMD Brands
KMD Brands controls 3 brands on Brandtree, 3 of them in apparel, footwear & accessories.
Also in apparel, footwear & accessories
Other brands in outdoor & workwear, and who owns them
The 52 brands in outdoor & workwear on Brandtree belong to 28 owners. The largest is Clarus, with 5; KMD Brands has 3.
| Brand | Owner | Owner based in |
|---|---|---|
| PG Golf | Acushnet | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Black Diamond | Clarus | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Arc'teryx | Amer Sports | 🇫🇮 Finland |
| Cannon | Johnson Outdoors | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Dickies | VF Corporation | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Callaway Golf | Callaway Golf | 🇺🇸 United States |
| Columbia | Columbia Sportswear | 🇺🇸 United States |
| B'Twin | Decathlon | 🇫🇷 France |
About the owner: KMD Brands
KMD Brands is a publicly listed company headquartered in Christchurch, New Zealand. Brandtree records 3 brands under its control, and it is listed as NZX: KMD and ASX: KMD.
KMD Brands is a Christchurch company listed on the New Zealand and Australian stock exchanges, and a certified B Corporation, that describes itself as three brands: the outdoor and travel label Kathmandu, the Australian surf company Rip Curl and the Montana hiking footwear maker Oboz. Its sales in the year to 31 July 2025 were NZ$989 million, more than half of them Rip Curl's, through owned stores, licensed stores, wholesale and online in over 8,000 locations. A business review of its capital structure and portfolio, reported in May 2026, was expected to finish around its September 2026 annual results.
🇦🇺 Rip Curl and other Australian brands
Brandtree records a controlling owner for 228 brands that began in Australia. 72 of them (32%) are now controlled by a company headquartered in another country, Rip Curl among them.
- Berlei (Australia, New Zealand and South Africa) — Gildan 🇨🇦
- Glue Store — Accent Group 🇦🇺
- Hard Yakka — Wesfarmers 🇦🇺
- MAXTRAX — Clarus 🇺🇸
- UGG — Deckers Brands 🇺🇸
- 19 Crimes — Treasury Wine Estates 🇦🇺
Frequently asked questions
Who is the parent company of Rip Curl?
The parent company of Rip Curl is KMD Brands, a publicly listed company headquartered in New Zealand.
Is Rip Curl Australian or New Zealand?
Rip Curl originated in Australia in 1969, but it is owned today by KMD Brands, which is headquartered in New Zealand. So Rip Curl is an Australian-origin brand under New Zealand ownership.
Since when has KMD Brands owned Rip Curl?
KMD Brands has owned Rip Curl since 2019.
Is Rip Curl still owned by KMD Brands?
Yes. As of 16 September 2026, Rip Curl is still owned by KMD Brands. The ownership record was last checked against primary sources on that date.
Sources (1) & corrections
Last verified . Every ownership fact above is backed by one of these primary documents. Numbers in brackets in the text refer to this list.
- [1] KMD Brands Annual Integrated Report 2025 — KMD Brands Limited, Annual report; retrieved 16 September 2026.
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