It is an open secret that Sport 2000 France is looking for an investor to secure the financial muscle for the future growth of the company. It has not been communicated yet who the new shareholder could be, but the French buying group is said to be negotiating with a financial investor.
The new investor would buy the shares from Sport 2000 Germany, which holds a blocking minority interest in the French group by the same name as it owns 33.3 percent of its equity plus one share. It is willing to give it up as long as the new shareholder retains only a minority stake. It already has assurances that Sport 2000 France will continue to use the central settlement organization of the parent company of Sport 2000 Germany, Ariston-Nord-West-Ring.
SGI Europe hears that a final decision should be taken by the end of May at the latest. Sport 2000 Germany purchased a major minority stake of its French sister company in 2000 mainly to ward off a possible shift in its central settlements from its own parent company over to Garant Schuh + Mode, which held a high minority share in the central invoicing structure Twinner, another French buying group that was working together with Sport 2000 France in the area of purchasing. Garant recently pulled out of Twinner, which is now doing joint purchasing and central settlements together with Intersport France.
