Amer Sports Oyj is a Finland-based company engaged in the manufacture, sale and marketing of sports equipment, apparel and footwear to the sports equipment industry. The Company is organized into three business segments: Outdoor, Ball Sports and Fitness. Its products are marketed through such brands as Wilson, Salomon, Precor, Atomic, Suunto, Arc’teryx, Louisvillle Slugger, ENVE Composites, DeMarini, Peak Performance, Sports Tracker and Armada. The Company operates internationally in over 30 countries through a number of subsidiaries, notably Queenax. The Company’s main market areas are the Unites States, Europe and Japan[1].
Amer Sports’ net sales in 2018 were EUR 2,678.2 million (2017: EUR 2,574.6 million). Net sales increased by 7% in local currencies. Organic growth was 4%[2].
Amer brand portfolio
Wilson is the number one equipment brand across more sports than any other brand. The company’s core sports include tennis, baseball, basketball, American football, golf, volleyball, soccer, softball, badminton, and squash;
Salomon has created a vast range of revolutionary new concepts in bindings, boots, skis and apparel for both alpine and nordic skiing and brought innovative solutions to footwear, mountaineering, hiking, trail running, and many other sports;
Precor designs and builds premium commercial fitness equipment for workouts that feel smooth and natural.
Atomic manufactures products which are perfectly tailored for ski racers and freeskiers, crosscountry skiers and backcountry skiers, beginners and World Champions alike.
Suunto has been at the forefront of design and innovation for dive computers, instruments and sports watches used by adventure seekers all over the globe.
Arc’teryx is a technical high-performance outerwear and equipment company based in North Vancouver, Canada.
Louisville Slugger is the Official Bat of Major League Baseball (MLB) ® and the #1 bat in MLB. Since 1884, Louisville Slugger bats have been a part of every post season run, World Series Championship and the most historic moments of the game.
Located in Ogden, Utah, ENVE Composites is a manufacturer of handmade carbon fiber bicycle rims and components.
DeMarini is an American manufacturer of baseball bats and other sports equipment headquartered in Oregon, United States.
Peak Performance is a Sports Fashion brand founded in Åre, Sweden 1986.
Sports Tracker is the original sport and fitness application for running, cycling and every-day training.
Armada Skis is known as the athlete-focused ski brand with athlete-driven, design obsessed and technologically superior products. Armada is headquartered in Park City, Utah.
Acquisition & tender offer
In September 2018, Anta announced that, together with the private equity firm FountainVest Partners (“FountainVest”), it has submitted a non-binding preliminary indication of interest to Amer Sports Corporation (“Amer Sports”), a sporting goods company whose shares are listed on the official list of Nasdaq Helsinki Ltd., to acquire the entire share capital of Amer Sports at a cash consideration of EUR40.00 per share (the “Possible Acquisition”), subject to a number of conditions[3].
In December 2018, A consortium led by China’s Anta Sports (2020.HK) made an offer to acquire Finland’s Amer Sports (AMEAS.HE) in a deal that values the company at 4.6 billion euros ($5.23 billion). The consortium includes Tencent, FountainVest Partners and Anamered Investments, , which is owned by Canadian billionaire Chip Wilson, founder of yoga apparel company Lululemon Athletica Inc.[4],[5]
According to the proposal, (i) Anta will indirectly through Anta SPV own 57.95%, (ii) FV Fund will own 21.40% (and FountainVest SPV will indirectly, and Tencent will indirectly through Tencent SPV, in each case as a limited partner in FV Fund, respectively own 15.77% and 5.63%), and (iii) Anamered Investments will own 20.65% of the shares in the Offeror by way of equity contribution to the share capital of JVCo.29
The final result of the tender offer was announced on March 12, 2019. With the shares tendered in the offer representing approximately 94.98 percent of all the shares and votes in Amer Sports, Anta has satisfied all of the terms and conditions of the tender offer, which entitles the Chinese company to complete the purchase.[6]
To finance the acquisition, Anta entered launched syndication of a five-year €2.2bn (US$2.51bn) loan with Bank of China, Citigroup and JP Morgan as joint global coordinators[7].
[1] https://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/companyProfile/AMEAS.HE
[2] https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/amersports-wordpress-exove/uploads/20190207140601/Amer-Sports-Financial-Statements-2018.pdf
[3] https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2018/0912/ltn20180912023.pdf
[4] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-anta-m-a-amer/chinas-anta-sports-led-group-buying-finlands-amer-sports-for-5-2-billion-idUSKBN1O60VR
[5] https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2019/0204/ltn20190204723.pdf
[6] https://www1.hkexnews.hk/listedco/listconews/sehk/2019/0312/ltn20190312492.pdf
[7] https://www.reuters.com/article/anta-sports-kicks-off-china-ma/anta-sports-kicks-off-china-ma-idUSL3N1ZB31Z