Sports brand Reebok set to change hands

REEBOK, the sportswear brand with deep roots in the North West, could be set to change hands in a deal worth more than £1bn.

Reebok, which was founded in Holcombe Brook near Bolton in 1890  and produced the spiked running shoes worn by Eric Liddell and Harold Abrahams, the athletes featured in the film Chariots of Fire, is now headquartered in Canton Massachusetts and now has limited links to this region.

According to reports, current owner, German group Adidas, which paid €3bn for the business in 2006, could be prepared to sell it for €1.7bn to a Hong Kong venture capital company, Jynwel Capital.

Jynwel is said to be working with Abu Dhabi’s government-backed investment funds on a possible deal. The Hong Kong company declined to comment on the deal, but said in a statement : “We continually evaluate unique investment opportunities globally.”

Analysts  say that under Adidas’s ownership Reebok has disappointed: it wrote €265m off the brand’s value last year in the wake of a profits warning in which it admitted that sales were running below expectations.

Shares in Adidas rose on Monday on the speculation. The German company has had a tough year and its stock has fallen 40%.

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