Britain’s sports good retailer, JD Sports, has announced a potential merger with Sport Zone which operated across Spain and Portugal.
The partnership would create an Iberian sports retail group which would include the JD Group as a major shareholder (50%) along with Sonae (30%) and the family shareholders of JD Sprinter, the Spanish business in which JD Sports bought a stake in 2011 (20%).
The new Iberian sports group would become the second largest sportswear retailer and will generate further scale, momentum and resources to continue the JD Group’s current growth.
In an announcement to the London stock market this morning, Lancashire-based JD Sports said it now has a Memorandum of Understanding with Sonae and that this will establish the key parameters for the creation of an Iberian Sports Retail Group.
The statement read, “Sonae and JD Sprinter have a deep knowledge of sports retail in Portugal and Spain and both will play a key role in the future strategic and operational management of the Iberian Group.
“With an estimated combined turnover over €450 million and a store network of 287 stores (191 of which are in Spain and 96 are in Portugal), the Iberian Group will become the second largest Iberian Sports Retailer and will generate further scale, momentum and resources to continue the current growth of the JD Group.”
JD Sports Fashion plc has been 57% owned by Pentland Group plc since mid 2005, a group whose principal interests are in sports and fashion brands, such as Lacoste and Speedo.
