As part of its strategy to focus on its most important assets, Puma has agreed to sell the industrial property rights of the Tretorn Group to the Authentic Brands Group (ABG). Tretorn managers are acquiring an operating license from ABG to run Tretorn's business in Scandinavian and other European countries. They will function as master licensees in Europe and continue to be the global developer and supplier of rubber-based footwear.
Tretorn specializes in tennis equipment, rubber boots, outdoor and fashion footwear. ABG owns and manages a range of fashion and sports brands, such as Spyder, Prince and Tapout. The deal, which comprises trademark rights, patents and designs, was sealed at an undisclosed price and became effective on June 29.
Apart from the European deal, ABG said it would focus its licensing agreements on North America and Asia. It has been holding advanced talks with a strategic licensing partner for North America, which is to be announced shortly. ABG said that current trends made it most judicious to expand Tretorn into more categories and territories.
Puma acquired Tretorn in 2001 and a few years ago it wanted to use the brand to expand in the outdoor market. It has long been split into two units: Tretorn in the United States focusing on sneakers and other fashion footwear, and supervising sales in North America and Asia; and Tretorn in Sweden concentrating on outdoor products and European sales.
Tretorn has been managed since 2013 by Markus Wonko, who previously worked at the Adidas Group. With an estimated turnover in the range of about €25 million, the company is based in Helsingborg, the southern Swedish city where it was established, and where Puma Nordics has its head office and warehouse. Puma said the two companies would continue to share infrastructure in Helsingborg until the end of the year, and Tretorn would establish its own thereafter. The same applies in the U.S., where the Tretorn team is using Puma's facilities for North America in Westford, Massachusetts.
Tretorn was established in 1891 by Johan Donker as a factory making rubber galoshes and then balls. It gained much exposure when its Nylite tennis footwear was worn by players such as Björn Borg and Martina Navratilova, but it has since moved further into the fashion business through partnerships with designers and retailers such as Acne, J Crew and H&M.
