Nike, which took over the distribution in Russia from Delta Sport a couple of years ago, has decided to extend it with the same Serbian-based company for the Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries, but the duration of the new contract could not be determined. Confirming our previous speculation, the Adidas Group has instead announced the acquisition of the distribution rights for the Reebok brand in Russia, the Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Reebok, which previously had its own subsidiary in Russia, has been distributed in the country since 1999 by RBK-Retail, remaining for a long time a solid #2 in the market (more on that in our market research report on Russia and the CIS countries). RBK-Retail’s major shareholder, Max Ignatiev, continues to run the R Fitness chain separately.
Adidas has identified Russia and China as the biggest opportunities for Reebok’s future growth. The group points out that Adidas’ business in Italy more than doubled after it took over the distribution there in 2002 and that it experienced sizeable gains in other countries such as Japan, Turkey, Denmark and Portugal after similar transactions.
