News briefs - Corporate and M&A – Page 34
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News briefs
Escalade buys Brunswick Billiards from Life Fitness
Escalade has agreed to take over Brunswick’s billiards business from Life Fitness. Brunswick has been selling billard tables and related products since 1845. Escalade is already involved since 1977 in the sector and the broader indoor recreation market. Aside from Stiga tennis tables and Accudart and Uncorn darting products, it ...
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News briefs
Sports Direct’s parent is reportedly bidding for Footasylum
Frasers Group has filed an offer to buy Footasylum, according to The Sunday Times. It has notified the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which again ruled in November that JD Sports Fashion must divest the 65-store chain on anti-trust grounds. JD acquired Footasylum in May 2019. Frasers’ bid is questionable, ...
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News briefsCalida’s Millet Mountain Group returns to the founding family
In an announcement made on Dec. 24, the Swiss-based Calida Group said it received a binding offer from Jean-Pierre Millet, together with Inspiring Sport Capital, for their takeover of the French-based Millet Mountain Group, which includes the Millet and Lafuma Outdoor brands. Jean-Pierre Millet is a grandson of one of ...
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News briefsOberalp Group acquires manufacturer of raw material for ski touring skins
The Oberalp Group has announced the acquisition of Velotex from Pongs Velours. Velotex specializes in the production of mohair velvet, which is an essential product for ski touring skins, and other products for skiing. The closing of the transaction is scheduled for Jan. 1, 2022. The takeover allows Oberalp to ...
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News briefs
Sports Direct’s parent may go private
Frasers Group, parent company of Sports Direct and many other operations, has failed to address so far recent rumors that Mike Ashley, its biggest shareholder, may want to take the company private. He already owns about 68 percent of the shares, and an ongoing share buyback program may soon take ...
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News briefsMIPS moves up to Nasdaq Stockholm’s Large Cap segment
Following Nasdaq’s annual review of the market capitalization of listed companies, Mips AB, which is well known for its innovative helmet technology BPS (stands for “Brain Protection System”), is moving up from the Mid Cap to the Large Cap segment of Nasdaq Stockholm. The move will be effective on Jan ...
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News briefs
Aqua-Leisure buys Airhead to trigger synergies and to expand
The Airhead Sports Group, a company based in Denver, Colorado that has dealers in nearly 80 different countries, has become the property of Aqua-Leisure Recreation, another U.S. watersports equipment company based in Avon, Massachusetts. The goal is to implement synergies in R&D, sourcing and distribution. Airhead sells a variety of ...
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News briefs
Skechers extends and expands its credit facility
After booking record results for the third quarter, Skechers has expanded its senior unsecured credit facility from $500 million to $750 million, extending its maturity date from November 2024 to December 2025. It will retain a $250 million accordion feature that allows the company up to $1 billion worth of ...
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News briefs
KKR invests in PureGym to support its expansion
There is evidently a new sense of optimism in the gym business, in spite of recent lockdowns. KKR has agreed to become a minority investor in PureGym, a U.K.-based group that operates more than 500 gyms in the U.K. and other European countries, while providing it with an investment of ...
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News briefs
Adidas launches a new €4 billion share buyback program
Adidas has announced the launch of yet another share buyback program that will involve investments of €4 billion until 2025, starting in January 2022. It has already bought back €1 billion worth of shares this year. Adding annual dividend payouts in a range of 30 to 50 percent of net ...
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News briefs
Big variations in SSU’s market capitalization
Signa Sports United, the German-based parent of Tennis-Point and an array of online bicycle webstores, saw its share price close at €9.93 on Dec. 15, its first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock price rose to €10.25 in after-hours trading. A total of 137,481 shares ...
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News briefsNew business plan for Polygiene
The board of directors and the management of Polygiene, the Swedish ingredient brand supplier, have set new financial targets for the 5-year period from 2022 to 2026. According to the new business plan, Polygiene should achieve net sales of more than SEK 1 billion (€98.6 million) and an Ebit ...
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News briefs
More concentration in the German media market
Accelerated by the Covid pandemic, which has reduced the sports brands’ budget for national B2B advertising, the number of German retailer-oriented trade publications operating in the German sporting goods market has been cut from three to one over a span of just five years. The Ebner Media Group (EMG) has ...
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News briefs
CCM Hockey’s parent acquires two brands of figure, roller and inline skates
Sport Maska, owner of the CCM Hockey brand, has acquired Tournament Sports Marketing. Headquartered in Cambridge, Ontario, Tournament owns the Jackson Ultima brand of figure skates and the Atom brand of roller and inline skates. Marrouane Nabih, Sport Maska’s CEO, calls it “a strategic acquisition that allows us to expand ...
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News briefs
Puma boosts shoe production in Argentina
Puma added two more production lines to its footwear factory in Argentina last month, in addition to the three lines that it had incorporated there earlier this year, in order to raise its annual capacity from 1.4 to 2.4 million pairs. Located at La Rioja, the plant is run by ...
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News briefs
Adidas cancels over 8 million treasury shares after stock buy-backs
After completing its share repurchase program for the year, Adidas says it has proceeded to cancel 8,316,186 shares held in treasury, reducing the share count from 200,416,186 to 192,100,000. In its second tranche of the program, which ran from Oct. 18 to Nov. 25, the company bought back 1,619,683 shares ...
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News briefs
Frasers expands its credit facility, reports more treasury shares
Frasers Group, the British parent of Sports Direct, announced that it has entered into a new term loan and credit facility with its bankers that allows it to borrow up to an aggregate amount of £930 million (€1,093m-$1,237m) over the next three years, with an option to extend it for ...
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News briefs
Adidas partners with cryptocurrency and gaming platforms
Adidas has struck partnerships with the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase and the gaming platform The Sandbox, announcing them via Twitter on Nov. 22 and 24, respectively. The strategy behind these moves remains undisclosed, but it stands to reason that the German sportswear giant is seeking to sell branded virtual apparel and ...
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News briefs
Hydro Flask’s owner adds Osprey Packs
Helen of Troy, the American group that owns Hydro Flask and many other operations, has announced that one of its subsidiaries has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Osprey Packs, the backpack manufacturer founded in California in 1974. The group said it sees synergies with its Hydro Flask drinkware ...
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News briefs
eBay buys Sneaker Con’s authentication business
On Nov. 24, eBay closed a deal to acquire the sneaker-authentication business of Sneaker Con Digital, which operates in the U.S., the U.K., Canada, Australia and Germany. Terms have not been disclosed. The companies have been collaborating since October 2020, with Sneaker Con providing a panel of experts to review ...
