The family of Vincenzo Mancini, the 59-year-old entrepreneur who founded Cisalfa Sport in 1977, has bought it back through a holding company called Challenge 2012, after half a year of negotiations. He had sold Cisalfa in 2006 to a private equity fund, Investitori Associati, but he had kept a 29.9 percent stake through another investment vehicle called Lux Co. The terms of these transactions could not be learnt.
Mancini has also taken over Cisalfa's helm following the resignation of its chief executive, Marco Giunta, due to their different views on the strategic orientation of the company in a tough competitive environment. Giunta, who is 52 years old, became the CEO in February 2006 in connection with the change of ownership. He has resigned and sold his minority stake of 3.6 percent, but he will assist Mancini over a transitional period, before taking a long sabbatical vacation.
Cisalfa, which also owns Longoni Sport and is the master licensee for Intersport in Italy, remained the largest sporting goods retailer in the country in 2011 with total sales of €930 million including those of Intersport's members, but it has been facing increasing competition from Décathlon in a downward market and may have lost the leadership in 2012. No recent figures could be obtained as Cisalfa's financial year closes on Feb. 28.
Apparently, the differences between Mancini and Giunta concerned mainly the use of promotional pricing policies and the balance between performance and lifestyle in Cisalfa's offerings. A statement from the company indicates that Cisalfa wants to better respond to the demands of the market and optimize the price-quality ratio, while investing in Best Company and other corporate labels as well as on its exclusive Ellesse license for the Italian market.
The company wants to open new stores and close under-performing locations. The overall door count has not changed since Investitori Associati came on board, in spite of ambitious expansion plans announced at that time. The total number of corporate stores has remained at 160, excluding those run by other members of Intersport Italia, but their average size has increased.
Flavio Mazzocchi remains general manager of Intersport Italia, which is still controlled by Cisalfa. The board of directors of Intersport International Corporation is expected to meet in April to decide who should take the place of Giunta in the body. He became a member of IIC's board in 2008 and was confirmed as a vice president of the international retail organization in 2011.
