Corporate and M&A – Page 5
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Twitter to become nothing, anything, everything
It appears that we were on to something a few months ago. Twitter has taken another step towards becoming X – “the everything app.” But what does this mean, and why the change in a brand as iconic as Twitter? We take a look.
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Footway Group has applied for voluntary company reorganization
Swedish Footway Group, operator of specialized online stores, has applied for voluntary company reorganization. According to the company, the decision is based on “the very challenging conditions that the sports retail industry in Sweden and Norway has faced in recent months,” and an acute liquidity situation. During the reconstruction period, ...
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Europe’s one pickleball firm sets out to conquer America
Back in 2020, amid the lockdowns, Xiana López discovered through a market study that Europe had yet to produce a pure player in the pickleball business, despite the buzz floating over the pond from the U.S. There were pádel and tennis brands selling pickleball racquets, but none that would develop ...
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Völkl exits pádel market
Völkl is getting out of the pádel market and refocusing on tennis, as the German brand’s sales director for racquet sports in Spain, Héctor García, told CMDsport. The reversal, he observes, is enabling Völkl to evade some of pádel’s present-day turmoil. “This is not the time to enter” that market. ...
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Russian sporting goods retailers Lestate and Sportmaster launch private label lines
Russian sporting goods company Lestate has submitted an application to the state patent agency Rospatent to register its own brand Rank. At the same time, the Russian largest sporting goods retailer rolled out plans to register the third line of sporting goods under the Athlex brand. Goods under the Rank ...
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All Good Things closes Series A financing, plans to expand UK store network
All Good Things, a UK-based independent retailer founded in 2019 selling exclusively used, torn or repaired clothing, announced that it has received a £2.5 million (€2.93m) equity investment. The funding was provided by Souter Investments in conjunction with a broad range of experienced former retail employees, including Ben Barnett (former ...
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Xponential signs Club Pilates master franchisee in France
Xponential Fitness, a California-based international franchisor of boutique fitness brands, has signed a master franchisee agreement in France for its Club Pilates brand, marking its 19th international country outside of North America. The agreement, signed with TCMP Fitness and partners Susan and Chris Fichaud, gives the master franchisee the ability ...
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JD Sports to acquire all remaining shares of Iberian Sports Retail Group
JD Sports Fashion has announced its intention to acquire the remaining 49.98 percent stake in Iberian Sports Retail Group (ISRG), currently held by Balaiko Firaja Invest and Sonae Holdings, for a total cash consideration of €500.1 million, to be funded from the group’s existing cash resources. Upon completion of the ...
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MAS Holdings invests in HeiQ AeoniQ
MAS Holdings, a global apparel and textile group headquartered in Sri Lanka, has secured an investment in HeiQ AeoniQ™ to support the development of next-gen cellulosic filament fibers to replace polyester and nylon. MAS Holdings is the largest apparel and textile manufacturer in South Asia with sales of approximately $2 ...
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McKinsey analysis: 6 key strategies to succeed in the sporting goods market
How can you gain a competitive edge and realize growth? In this exclusive content from McKinsey, we outline what your strategy should include.
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Everysport Group acquires equestrian sports media company
Stockholm-based Everysport Group AB, divided into the Everysport Media and Every Padel businesses, has reached an agreement to acquire equestrian media company Hippson Aktiebolag. The seller of the transaction is Perlavita AB, which is owned by AltoCumulus (a family business within the Axel Johnson Group). The acquisition complements Everysport’s existing ...
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Coats launches new footwear division
Coats, the UK-based manufacturer of industrial yarns and structural components for apparel and footwear, has launched a new footwear division following its acquisition of Texon and Rhenoflex in 2022. Following a period of integration, Coats Footwear was launched, offering an expanded range of components and material solutions to footwear and ...
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Koroyd grows with new HQ, new hires and brand relaunch
Koroyd, a Monaco-based company offering an advanced impact protection technology, announced significant strategic growth developments across the company, including a move to an expanded headquarters, new hires across the business, a complete relaunch of its brand identity and messaging, and category growth in key markets. Over the past 18 months, ...
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Pangaia and Goldwin first to join Spiber’s “Biosphere Circulation” program
Japanese biotechnology start-up Spiber has introduced the “Biosphere Circulation Program,” a breakthrough method for upcycling biobased and biodegradable textile and agricultural waste through the use of the company’s proprietary fermentation technology. The main objective of the program is to develop a global solution to produce fully recyclable textile products that ...
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Investment company acquires Aqualung Group
Barings, a global investment manager, has entered into exclusive discussions to acquire 100 percent of Aqualung Group, owner of the Aqualung, Apeks, Aquasphere, Omer, Military Professional, Stohlquist and U.S. Divers brands of diving equipment and water sports. Aqualung, the Group’s best-known brand, pioneered the development of modern diving equipment in ...
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Vuzix OEM consumer smart eyewear business enters countdown phase
At its annual general meeting, held last week at the company’s headquarters, Vuzix announced that it plans to sell 50,000 to 75,000 enterprise products in 2023. The smart glasses supplier predicts that the market for such smart glasses will grow 20- to 50-fold to $2.5 billion by 2028, and estimates ...
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Amer Sports gets upgraded by S&P Global
Amer Sports, the parent of Arc’teryx, Salomon and Wilson brands, last week received an upgrade on its credit rating to B+ from B and a stable outlook from S&P Global. The credit rating agency, which is projecting revenue growth of 17 to 18 percent for Amer this year and 8 ...
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Sportmaster takes over one Decathlon store, while Russian offshoot reportedly sold and reopening
Russian sporting goods retailer Sportmaster has opened a new store under the Sportmaster Pro banner in the Raduga Park shopping center in Yekaterinburg, taking over a location previously occupied by Decathlon. This is the first time that Sportmaster has taken the place of the French retailer. In early 2023, the ...
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Rockport files for bankruptcy protection again, CEO steps down
Forty years after introducing DresSports, considered the first classic dress shoe with a rubber sole, The Rockport Company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the second time in five years. The petition lists some $99.71 million in funded debt obligations and more than $63.1 million owed to its 20 ...
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Smart insoles supplier announces completion of investment round
Arion, a developer of smart insoles, has announced the successful completion of its latest multi-million dollar investment round for Deep Tech parent company Atogear, led by CEO Markus Hupach, former CEO of Sport 2000, since early 2022 (our sister publication The Outdoor Industry Compass reported at the time). The funds ...