After 17 years of ownership, Quiksilver sold Mervin Manufacturing – the company behind the Lib Tech and Gnu boards and one of the oldest brands in snowboarding.

Quik were apparently making budget cuts across the board, and the ever-so-slightly crazy Seattle-based company didn’t fit into their longer term plans. The two parted ways on good terms apparently, and Mervin will continue making Roxy’s boards for Quiksilver in the future.

This could be taken as a positive or a negative. Lib Tech’s Willy Wonka-esque founder Mike Olsen admitted in the past that Quiksilver had pretty much saved his company when they bought it in the 90s. And under Quik’s ownership Mervin had definitely thrived.

But with new investors behind him, the prospect of Mike and Mervin being given completely free rein to pursue their more madcap ideas is undoubtedly exciting.