Latest Headlines – Page 158
-
Article
Canyon Bicycles has a new majority shareholder
Groupe Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), a major Belgian-based investment company, has agreed to take over majority control of Canyon Bicycles, the German bike producer known for its direct-to-consumer approach. Roman Arnold, a former supplier of bike components who founded the brand in 2002, will reinvest a significant part of the proceeds ...
-
Article
Vaha secures new funding round, bringing in Porsche Ventures
Vaha, a German start-up that launched an interactive mirror for home fitness, has completed a Series-B financing round, led by Unbound, a London-based investment founded by Shravin Mittal. Porsche Ventures, the investment unit of the Stuttgart-based car maker, emerged as a new investor in this round, alongside two existing investors, ...
-
ArticleJD Sports expands on the U.S. West Coast by acquiring Shoe Palace
JD Sports Fashion has announced the acquisition of Shoe Palace, which describes itself as “one of the most trusted athletic footwear and apparel retail chains in the United States,” and other assets in a cash and stock deal worth over $680 million in total. Acting through a wholly-owned holding company ...
-
Article
New anti-Covid measures in Germany, Spain opens up
In concert with the governments of the individual Länder, the federal government of Germany has ordered the lockdown of all the brick-and-mortar stores that sell non-essential products, starting on Wednesday, Dec. 16. Opticians and bike repair shops are mentioned among the few exceptions. The new restrictions came after a spike ...
-
ArticleWintersteiger’s new drying tech dispenses with chemicals
Wintersteiger, the Austrian manufacturer of special machinery, claims to have done away with chemicals in sterilization. Sterex, as its new system is called, uses cold plasma to eliminate up to 99.9 percent of the microorganisms found in skis and other products, among them the multi-resistant bacteria known as hospital germs ...
-
Article
EU, UK extend Brexit trade talks in effort to avoid a “no deal”
The United Kingdom and the European Union had decided to wait until Sunday, Dec. 13 to find a compromise on a trade agreement that would go into effect on Jan. 1. The European Commission’s president, Ursula von der Leyen, said the negotiators will continue to work into this week and ...
-
Article
The U.K. reaches trade accord with Vietnam, but a deal with EU is unlikely
After a dinner in Brussels on Wednesday night, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, both indicated that the likelihood of “no deal” between the U.K. and the European Union has increased. Von der Leyden said that a final decision will ...
-
Article
EU to cut greenhouse emissions, Brooks and Vaude sign the Climate Pledge
The 27 members of the European Union agreed on Dec. 11, after a night of negotiations, to reduce by at least 55 percent their greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, compared with 1990 levels, increasing the target from a previous objective of 40 percent. “Europe will reduce emissions by at least ...
-
ArticleStrong finish to a tough year for Johnson Outdoors, especially in diving
Strong demand for fishing, camping and watercraft recreation products drove significantly higher sales and profits for Johnson Outdoors’ fiscal fourth quarter. The management said that the demand picked up in the second half of the year after a difficult second quarter, at the onset of the pandemic. After lockdowns eased, ...
-
Article
Russian law enforcement agencies keep seizing untagged shoes
Russian police have seized big batches of counterfeit shoes in St. Petersburg and in the Chelyabinsk and Novosibirsk regions. In Novosibirsk, for example, police officials seized 1,338 pairs of shoes that didn’t have the QR codes that became mandatory in Russia on July 1 to help wipe out counterfeit shoes ...
-
Article
Lululemon’s profits return to double-digit growth
The yoga apparel specialist saw its net income progress by 14 percent in the third quarter to $143.6 million, rebounding from a 31 percent dip suffered in the second one, in spite of extra expenditures of $8.5 million related to the $500 million acquisition of Mirror. The gross margin rose ...
-
ArticleDecathlon will gross €30m in its first year in Ireland
For several reasons, Decathlon’s entry into the Republic of Ireland, which added a 59th country to the French sports retailer’s worldwide roster, has been a huge success. The project’s 41-year-old leader, Bastien Grandgeorge, is expecting a profit on sales of around €30 million in the first year of operation of ...
-
Article
Frasers Group raises guidance as stores reopen
After what the Frasers Group called its most challenging year in its history - due to Brexit, a Belgian tax investigation and Covid-19 - the parent company of Sports Direct and many other retail chains posted a 29 percent rise in earnings for the first half of its fiscal year ...
-
Article
Ispo Brandnew announces its top 10
Ispo Brandnew, purportedly the world’s largest start-up competition for the sporting goods industry, will as usual form part of the next – entirely virtual – Ispo Munich trade show, scheduled for Feb. 1-5. Some 30 young companies – 10 winners and 20 “selected brands” – will introduce themselves, in their ...
-
ArticleA cross-industry warning from the European winter sports sector
The Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (Fesi) has released a statement in which 10 leading ski companies, five sports retail groups and 12 sporting goods industry federations raised concerns about the consequences for the industry of the planned closure of many European winter sports resorts in relation to the ...
-
ArticleSpanish campaign promotes sport as a study projects fewer jobs and higher healthcare costs
An association called España se Mueve – along with the High Sports Council, the autonomous community of Madrid and the Madrid city hall – has launched a campaign to help the Spanish sports sector weather the Covid-19 storm and promote sport among the populace for the sake of public health. ...
-
Article
BSI calls for European supply chain regulations
Responding to a petition made by Greenpeace and other associations and individuals in July, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has initiated a debate over proposed legislation that would oblige companies with 500 or more employees to comply with human rights standards in their global supply chain. Among other things, slave and ...
-
Article
Pentland highlights its 2020 actions for “positive business”
Pentland Brands recently published its first annual Positive Business Report, in which the company outlined the commitments and actions of its brands for the planet and society. The report covered the progress made during the period from January to December 2019, as well as the plans for 2020 and beyond. ...
-
ArticleGore and Bionic Yarn jointly develop textiles made from ocean-bound plastics
W. L. Gore & Associates and Bionic Yarn, a material engineering company based in New York, have announced a collaboration to drive the development of a high-performance textiles made from traceable, recycled plastic. Gore said it recently made an equity investment in Bionic to help streamline its fiber supply chain ...
-
Article
Many seek to ‘Make Amazon Pay’
Some 401 parliamentarians and public officials – among them Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the U.K.’s Labour Party; Yanis Varoufakis, Greece’s former minister of finance; and Ilhan Omar and Rachida Tlaib, two members of the so-called “Squad” in the U.S. House of Representatives – have signed an open letter to ...
