True to its own business model, the Authentic Brands Group (ABG) has announced a slate of “strategic operating partners” that will license the Reebok brand for the U.S. and other key regions around the world once its acquisition is completed as planned in the first quarter of 2022.
The Sparc Group, which has already partnered with ABG on other acquisitions, will become the core licensee and operating partner for Reebok in the U.S., overseeing sourcing, manufacturing, branded retail stores, e-commerce and wholesale distribution for footwear as well as lifestyle and activewear. The addition of Reebok will raise Sparc’s total retail-equivalent sales to about $5.5 billion, says ABG.
The Sparc Group is a joint venture formed four years ago beween ABG and the Simon Property Group, which is one of ABG’s shareholders. The inclusion of Reebok will lead Sparc to add footwear to its product portfolio. Reebok generated revenues of $1,166 million in 2019 and $943 million from footwear in 2020.
Sparc has already partnered with ABG for the acquisition of the American outdoor retailer Eddie Bauer and five lifestyle and fashion brands: Nautica, Aéropostale, Lucky Brand, Forever 21 and Brooks Brothers.
Sparc will also serve as the global hub for a newly created Reebok Design Group (RDG), responsible for all design, product development, innovation and other creative services for the brand’s partners around the world. These functions will continue to run out of Reebok’s global headquarters in Boston, led by Matt O’Toole, president of the brand, and Todd Krinsky, senior vice president and general manager in charge of product.
ABG has also signed up The Falic Group to take care of Reebok in Latin America, to the exclusion of Mexico, Brazil and Argentina, and the Accent Group for Australia and New Zealand. MGS will continue to be Reebok’s core operating partner for Israel, as it has done over the past two decades.
According to Adidas’ annual report for 2020, Reebok’s revenues declined by 17 percent in North America and by 14 percent in Latin America on a currency-neutral basis last year, down to the equivalent of €397.4 million and €125.2 million.
