China's Anta Sports to become top Puma shareholder

BEIJING: Chinese athletic goods giant Anta Sports will buy a controlling stake in historic German sportswear brand Puma for US$1.79 billion, a stock exchange filing showed Tuesday (Jan 27), as it expands its international presence.

Anta will buy 43 million shares for 35 euros apiece from the French billionaire Pinault family's Artemis group, the statement to the Hong Kong exchange said, giving it a 29 per cent stake.

The price is a more than 60 per cent premium to Puma's last close, according to Bloomberg data, and values the deal at 1.51 billion euros.

Anta said in the statement that the stake would "further enhance its presence and brand recognition in the global sporting goods market", including China.

"We believe Puma's share price over the past few months does not fully reflect the long-term potential of the brand," Anta Chairman Ding Shizhong said.

While the statement said Anta had no plans to launch a full takeover of Puma, it will "carefully assess the possibility of further deepening the partnership between the two parties in the future".

Anta declined to comment on the deal when contacted by AFP.

The firm, based in China's southeastern Fujian province, is one of the world's largest sportswear companies.

Founded in 1991, it is the parent company of many global brands through its subsidiary Amer Sports, including Wilson, Arc'teryx and Salomon.

Anta closed its acquisition of Finland-based Amer in 2019, leading a consortium in a deal worth about US$5.2 billion.

It also controls rights in the vast Chinese market for foreign sportswear firms, including Fila and Descente.

Puma, however, has been struggling with weak demand in recent months and saw sales decrease more than 15 per cent in the third quarter of last year.

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