Sportswear

Puma, China's Anta buys 29%. Will pay €35 per share at a 62% premium, share price flies (+8%)

The Chinese company Anta strengthens its position in the global sportswear market by acquiring a significant share of Puma from the French Pinault holding company Artemis.

FOTO D'ARCHIVIO - Il logo Puma  visibile su una sneaker Puma Speedcat OG esposta alla Puma  House di Parigi, Francia, il 24 gennaio 2025. REUTERS/Abdul Saboor/Foto d'archivio/Foto d'archivio

2' min read

Translated by AI
Versione italiana

2' min read

Translated by AI
Versione italiana

 China's largest sportswear brand Anta Sports has announced that it will buy 29.06 per cent of Puma from Groupe Artémis, the Pinault family's investment company, for EUR 1.5 billion, thus becoming the largest shareholder in the German sportswear manufacturer. The announcement was filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange,

It is expected - reads the Italian Stock Exchange website - that the transaction will be completed by the end of 2026, subject to the relevant regulatory approvals. The share acquisition will be fully funded from Anta Sports' internal cash resources.

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This acquisition makes Anta Sports - 35 years of experience in the sporting goods industry - the major shareholder of Puma and marks an important step forward in our strategy of 'multi-brand, single-brand focused globalisation', commented Ding Shizhong, President of Anta Sports. 'Puma is an iconic global brand with an established tradition.

'We believe that Puma's share price in recent months does not fully reflect the long-term potential of the brand,' Ding added. We look forward to supporting the continued rebirth of the brand'.

At present, the Group has no plans to make a takeover offer for Puma.

Anta shares, following the announcement of the transaction, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange were up around 2% while Puma shares up 2.2% - to EUR 22.01 - at 9:45 a.m. after opening at EUR 23.91 (+17%) per share on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. At 10:40 a.m. the stock was back in the air at EUR 23.30 per share (+8.27%) At 1 p.m. the gain was over 9%.

The numbers of the operation

The $27.8 billion Hong Kong-listed sportswear company will pay 35 euros in cash per share to the Pinault family holding company Artemis, which also controls the Paris-listed luxury conglomerate Kering.

The agreement will help Artemis reduce its high debt

The offer represents a 62 per cent premium over Puma's closing share price of EUR 21.63 on Monday and comes as the German company seeks to revive its fortunes after losing ground to Nike and Adidas.

It also faces competition from fast-growing brands such as New Balance and Hoka."Puma has more potential in the Chinese market, where ‍ is underrepresented, with only 7% of its global revenues," said Wei Lin, Anta's global vice president for sustainability and investor relations.Anta owns Fila, Jack Wolfskin, Kolon Sport and Maia Active. It is also the largest shareholder in Amer Sports, which includes Salomon, Wilson, Peak Performance and Atomic.

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