Last week, SGI Europe announced that private equity firm Adelis Equity sold its 73 percent stake in Intersport Sweden. Adelis became the majority shareholder in Intersport Sweden in 2015 and paid SEK 650 million (€57.4m) for the purchase. Intersport Sweden was then restructured to become an integrated chain.
The new ownership group comprises 110 people, with no one being a clear majority owner. Many partners are current Intersport retailers, but brand-new partners are also from other industries. Like ICA retailers Claes-Göran Sylvén and Kurt Carlsson. SGI Europe had a chat with Intersport Sweden’s CEO, Pontus Petersson.
SGI Europe: What were your thoughts before you chose this solution?
Pontus Petersson: We, existing and new shareholders, were interested in acquiring a larger stake, and we took the opportunity to do so. All shareholders are offered to participate in the change on equal terms. This was important to us because Intersport Sweden has been built together by all these people who, in many cases, go back generations since its founding in 1968.
For several years now, Sweden’s sports chains have had a hard time with physical trade, except Naturkompaniet and Löplabbet. Decathlon has left the country, Addnature/Bikester has been forced to close its stores, and XXL is reducing both the number and size of its stores. What is your comment on the last few tough years?
I would say that the Swedish sports industry has had a tough two years. Intersport, on the other hand, has done better than the industry, according to Sportindex*, which means we have taken market share in Sweden.
Ok, you are overall better than the industry average this year, but several of your stores face challenges with profitability. In Intersport’s own stores, including Löplabbet, turnover increased by 0.6 percent in 2023. In 2022, it decreased by 4.7 percent. Do you think that the downward trend will be able to be reversed in 2024/25 for these stores without you making changes, or what changes are you planning to turn to black figures?
We are a chain of both centrally and retailer-owned stores. At the chain level, we are gaining market share, but in an overall declining market at the same time as there is high inflation, which puts pressure on profitability. As is generally the case in the industry, profitability decreased for both the Group and several retailer-owned stores in 2023 due to higher overheads and operating costs. The Group and the vast majority of the retailer-owned stores are profitable, although some individual stores were in the red in this challenging year.
What are Intersport Sweden’s strengths in today’s tough retail competition?
I would say it is our employees, our omnichannel offering and size within Intersport. The fact that we are part of one of the world’s largest sports chains. When we join forces, we become even stronger together and international cooperation has strengthened enormously in recent years. A clear example of this is the new store concept and new digital front-end design that is being rolled out worldwide.
Are you changing the board of directors to bring in new blood and perhaps new strategic ideas?
Yes, as usual, changes are made to the board after a change of ownership. We have many interesting conversations ahead of us, and there is a lot of experience and expertise coming in, but at the same time, it is in the existing strategy and business plan that we have invested in.
What does Intersport Sweden’s future look like? Are there any new concrete measures that will increase cash flow and, ultimately, profit?
We are profitable, taking market share, and have a good plan. There will be no significant operational changes. Instead, it’s about being consistent and continuing on our current path, if anything, so the change of ownership will accelerate it.
What is your strategy?
We have a strategic plan that will make Intersport the first choice for anyone looking for an active and sustainable life and at the same time the first choice for all our focus sports.
So, will no significant changes, apart from the change of ownership, occur within Intersport Sweden in the future?
We never stand still; we are constantly developing. We just launched the next generation of e-commerce, and we are continuously upgrading our store concept to enhance the experience both online and in-store. With the upgrade, we want to create an even better shopping experience and even better customer service.
*Quarterly statistics on the development of the Swedish sports trade at a monthly level produced by the Swedish Trade Research Institute.
