Lotto Sport Italia has signed a ten-year licensing agreement with Unlimited Sports Group (USG), the leading Dutch sports retailer and wholesaler, for the production and distribution of its footwear and apparel in the Benelux countries.
The deal was formally signed by Squadra Italia, the Italian subsidiary set up by USG last month, and the starting date of the agreement was retroactively recorded at the beginning of the year. Lotto will be sold through the four retail chains owned by USG, from Perry Sport to Aktie Sport, Time Out Sport and Primo, but it will also be offered to other retailers.
As reported extensively in SGI EUROPE last month, USG has been expanding rapidly in the last two years, to handle ownership, licensing and distribution of more than a dozen brands, from Helly Hansen to Diadora, Champion, Le Coq Sportif, Pantofola d'Oro and many more. The latest move has been toward distribution deals reaching beyond the Benelux countries, which has led to the opening of a Nordic unit and an Italian subsidiary.
Lotto enjoyed a very strong position in Belgium at one point. It has been recently represented in the Benelux countries by two agents – 2People in the Netherlands and Sameva Bvba in Belgium and Luxembourg.
