JD Sports is to buy out the minority investors of its Iberian business as the retailer progresses with its ambitious international expansion strategy.
The sportswear retailer will pay £427m to acquire the remaining 49.98% shares in Iberian Sports Retail Group (ISRG), which are currently held by Balaiko Firaja Invest and Sonar Holdings, to give it 100% ownership.
The group had started talks back in May about the future ownership of the business, which operates more than 460 stores across Europe.
ISRG owns JD in Iberia, Sprinter in Spain, Sport Zone in Portugal and Aktiesport and Perry Sport in the Netherlands.
Subscribe to Retail Gazette for free
Sign up here to get the latest news straight into your inbox each morning
Commenting on the acquisition, JD Sports chief executive Régis Schultz said: “ISRG is a highly successful business and one of the leading players in sports retail in Iberia.
“By bringing the two businesses closer together, there is significant potential for accelerating growth.”
The retailer has been making steady progress on its expansion plans and earlier this week, signed its first franchise agreement as it looks to expand into the Middle East.
As part of a 10-year partnership with Dubai-headquartered wellbeing company GMG, the business will open around 50 stores with the JD fascia in the United Arab Emirates, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Egypt by 2028.
The recent acquisition builds on last month’s agreement to buy France’s Groupe Courir, which operates 313 stores across six countries, for enterprise value of £452.7m.
Click here to sign up to Retail Gazette‘s free daily email newsletter
