(UPDATE February 17th, 2021): adidas officially reports its plans to divest from Reebok over the next five years. Beginning this quarter the adidas subsidiary will be listed as a “discontinued operation”. In a statement acquired by Reuters, adidas CEO Kaspar Rorsted stated: “Reebok and adidas will be able to significantly better realize their growth potential independently of each other”. Reebok’s net sales fell 44% in the second quarter of 2021 followed by a 7% drop in the following quarter. Learn more via Reuters here.
According to a report by the German business publication Manager Magazin, adidas is selling its sister-company Reebok after years of poor sales performance. adidas bought Reebok for $3.8 billion USD back in 2006. While this decision had been made prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the amount it will be sold for is projected to be lower than adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted is reportedly to have initially hoped to sell the brand for – around €2 billion (~$2.4 billion USD).
Some of the parties interested in acquiring Reebok include VF Corp. – who owns The North Face and Timberland – as well as Chinese holding company Anta International Group Holdings, the owners of Anta Sports, one of the world’s largest sportswear companies.
The sale is estimated to be complete by March 2021.