Adidas contemplates sale of Reebok

Several sources report that German sports goods giant Adidas is considering a sale of its sister brand Reebok. That brand was severely hit by the corona crisis.

Internal evaluation

According to Bloomberg it will be decided in the coming months whether the sale will actually go ahead. The internal review would still be in the early stages. A spokeswoman for Adidas did not want to respond to the rumours.
 

Since Kasper Rorsted took over as CEO of Adidas in 2016, he has repeatedly denied rumours that he wanted to sell the brand. During his reign, however, significant cost savings were made. For example, he closed underperforming Reebok stores and allowed some licence agreements to expire.

Corona crisis

Reebok has been doing better since the beginning of last year. But the recent lockdown as a result of the corona crisis has hit the sports brand hard. In the second quarter sales dropped by no less than 42%, while Adidas had to cope with a decline of ‘only’ 33%.
 

Adidas acquired Reebok in 2006 for 3.8 billion dollar (3.2 billion euros). Possible acquisition candidates include VF Corp, known from Timberland and The North Face, and the Chinese company Anta International.