{{Short description|Finnish brand of ice hockey equipment}} {{Infobox brand | name = Koho | logo = KOHO logo.svg | producttype = Ice hockey equipment | currentowner = Birch Hill Equity Partners | country = Finland | introduced = 1964 |website={{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040224143211/http://www.koho.com/|title=Archived official website }}}} '''Koho''' is a Finnish brand of ice hockey equipment owned by Birch Hill Equity Partners through its portfolio company Sport Maska Inc. Koho equipment was made originally by the company Koho-tuote Oy, which was founded in 1964 in Forssa, Finland by Kari Aro (1935–2003).

Since the sale of the Koho company in 1974, the brand has gone through numerous ownership changes. Currently it is owned by the Quebec company Sport Maska, whose portfolio of brands also includes CCM, Jofa, Titan, Canadien, and Heaton.

==History== Koho-tuote was purchased in 1974 by Amer, which continued to manufacture Koho products. In 1986, Amer sold its Koho and Canadien brands to Karhu, which already owned the Titan and Jofa brands.<ref>Olli Virtanen, "Amer Group Sells Offshoot," ''Financial Times'', (19 September 1986), 31.</ref> In 1987, Karhu's hockey operations were sold to its partially owned Canadian arm, Karhu Canada Inc., later renamed the Sports Holdings Corporation. In late 1998, the SHC was acquired by the holding company SLM International, which owned the CCM brand through its subsidiary Sport Maska.<ref>"SLM International, Inc. Completes Acquisition of Sports Holdings Corp.," PR Newswire, (21 November 1998).</ref> Then, in March 1999, SLM was renamed The Hockey Company, reflecting its portfolio of hockey equipment brands.<ref>"SLM International Changes Name to The Hockey Company," PR Newswire, (17 March 1999).</ref> In 2004, Reebok purchased The Hockey Company,<ref>"Reebok scores majority of The Hockey Company," ''Edmonton Journal'', (18 June 2004), F3.</ref> then a year later, was itself purchased by Adidas. During the Reebok and Adidas ownership, all brands except CCM were phased out. In 2017, Adidas sold its hockey operations, which were still consolidated in the subsidiary Sport Maska, to the private equity firm Birch Hill Equity Partners for $110 million.<ref>"Adidas to sell CCM for US$110M," ''Montreal Gazette'', (28 July 2017), N6.</ref> Sport Maska's primary brand remains CCM, though it produces Koho-branded equipment and apparel occasionally.

==References== {{Portal|Ice hockey}} {{reflist}}

==External links== * {{IMDb title|qid=Q110665782}} – a 2022 documentary about Kari Aro and Koho

{{sports equipment brands}}

Category:Finnish brands Category:Ice hockey equipment manufacturers Category:Sporting goods manufacturers of Finland