The British JD will pay 500 million euros to take over the 49.98% that it does not control in the Iberian Sports Retail Group (ISRG), as announced in a statement. ISRG operates stores of its brand in Spain and Portugal and also of Sprinter in Spain, Sport Zone in Portugal and Aktiesport and Perry Sport in the Netherlands. In total it has 460 stores.
ISRG also owns 98% of the Deporvillage online store and has a 50.1% stake in the Bodytone fitness equipment business. As the CEO of JD, Régis Schultz, has pointed out, it is a highly successful company and one of the leaders in sports retail in the Iberia region. By bringing the two businesses together there is significant potential to accelerate growth, it is said.
JD will acquire the 29.9% owned by Sonae Holdings and the 19.9% ??owned by Balaiko Firaja Invest. The group underlines that there are opportunities to continue developing Sprinter and Sport Zone, and points out that the ISRG team in Iberia will have an important role in the development of the JD brand in this market as well as in other geographies.
ISRG registered income of 1,239 million euros in the last fiscal year, closed in January 2023, a gross profit of 97 million and assets of 768 million.
The operation is subject to approval at a general meeting of JD shareholders that is scheduled to be held next September. The majority shareholder, Pentland Group, which has 51.6% of JD, has already confirmed its intention to vote in favor. In this way, the transaction is expected to be completed a month later.
In February, JD announced that it would invest up to 3,000 million pounds – about 3,500 million euros – in the opening of 1,750 stores in five years, while its CEO, Regis Schultz, outlined his plans to turn the company into a ” nerve center” of leisure sportswear. In May it agreed to buy France’s Groupe Courir, which has 313 stores, and earlier this month announced it would enter the Middle East with its first franchise deal.
