Speculation has heightened around the potential sale of Puma after Challenges, a French business magazine, reported that Rothschild & Co has been hired to study various options. Kering, the French luxury group, bought Puma for about €5.3 billion in 2007. The brand's performance has greatly improved in the last three years and the brand's share price has risen sharply this year, raising its value to about €5.7 billion. Previous reports suggested that Kering might consider an initial public offering or another type of spin-off, instead of an outright sale to any strategic or financial investors. François-Henri Pinault, Kering's chief executive, told The Financial Times in June 2016 that the group didn't intend to sell Puma in the short term. He is no longer part of the administrative board at Puma, where he was vice-president until April. Jean-Marc Duplaix, the French group's chief financial officer, told analysts while outlining quarterly results in October that it would consider several options but at a later stage, and probably not in the short term.

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