Australian surfwear maker Billabong shares soared today after the head of its US unit said that he was considering tabling a bid for the struggling company.

Billabong shares surged by 17.6 per cent to 87 cents after the announcement before closing at 81.5 cents.

Paul Naude, director and president of Billabong's US unit, informed the board that he intended to stand temporarily aside from his post, while he tables a leveraged buyout of the company.

''Mr Naude's decision was not solicited by the board of Billabong and Mr Naude has confirmed that there is no agreement, arrangement or understanding with any member of the board or Billabong's senior management team in regard to his proposal," Billabong said in a statement.

South African-born Naude, a former professional surfer, is yet yo secure funding for the deal, and analysts are sceptical whether he will come with a firm bid without doing due diligence.

A  lifeline for the struggling surfwear company appears to be bleak, especially after two private equity firms recently walked away from a deal.

In October, TPG Capital, a retail chain turnaround specialist, withdrew its A$694 million ($713 million) takeover bid for Billabong, just a month after Boston-based Bain Capital exited after conducting due diligence.

Debt-laden Billabong  had in February rejected TPG's  offer of A$3.30 a share or $904 million (See: Surfwear giant Billabong says TPG Capital's revised $904 mn bid still too low) and TPG came back in July with a revised lower offer of $1.45-a-share or A$694 million, since after its first approach, Billabong sold 48.5 per cent of its watches and accessories company Nixon to Trilantic Capital Partners for $A432.71 million (Billabong rebuffs TPG Capital bid, sells stake in Nixon for $464 million).

In early September Billabong received a matching offer from an unnamed second suitor, which media had identified as Bain Capital, but after inspecting the Queensland-based company's books, it also withdrew its bid.

After rejecting TPG's initial offers, Billabong announced a major restructuring that included job cuts and the partial sale of its watches and accessories company, Nixon, cutting production lines, and expanding its online business.

Under the restructuring, Billabong, which had 634 stores in Australia, Europe, and the Americas, has already closed 58 stores and is expected to shutter another 82 this financial year, most of which were set up two years back.
 
In order to raise money to pay debts of more than A$500 million, of which, A$484 million is due in 2013 and the remainder matures in 2014, Billabong sold Nixon and  came up with an A$225 million equity raising.

Apart from the Billabong brand, the company sells surfwear and accessories under the Palmers Surf, Honolua Surf, Swell.com, Von Zipper, Kustom (footwear), Nixon, Xcel Wetsuits and Tigerlily brands, and also Element skate clothing and hardware.

Billabong's products are licensed and distributed in more than 100 countries and are available in approximately 11,000 stores worldwide. Products are distributed through specialised boardsports retailers and through the company's own branded retail outlets.

The majority of it's A$1.79 billion revenue is generated through wholly-owned operations in Australia, North America, Europe, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa and Brazil.

The company in August posted a net loss of A$276 million for fiscal year 2011, its first since it was listed in 2000.