Nike is not preparing to offload Converse, at least not publicly. However fresh speculation over the future of the brand has resurfaced after Bloomberg reported that Authentic Brands Group has expressed interest in buying Converse, should it ever be put up for sale.
Bloomberg said Nike has not engaged in discussions and no formal approach has been made, while chief executive Elliott Hill said in February that the group remains “committed to the Converse brand”.
The renewed interest lands at a difficult moment for Converse, which has become one of the weakest parts of Nike’s portfolio.
In its third quarter results for the period ended 28 February 2026, Nike said Converse revenues fell 35 per cent to $264m (£204m), with declines across all territories. That followed a 30 per cent drop to $300m (£233m) in the second quarter and a 27 per cent decline to $366m (£285m) in the first quarter, underlining the scale of the brand’s slump.
The deterioration is particularly visible because Nike’s core brand has proved more resilient. Group revenues in the third quarter were flat at $11.3bn (£8.8bn), while wholesale sales rose 5 per cent.
Even so, the wider turnaround remains uneven, with Nike warning that fourth-quarter sales are expected to fall by 2 per cent to 4 per cent as weakness in China, margin pressure and ongoing reset measures continue to weigh on performance.
Nike has already begun reshaping Converse internally.
Reuters reported in February that the brand was undergoing a major organisational restructuring, including corporate workforce reductions, as it was brought more closely into line with Nike’s operating model.
The move followed earlier job cuts and reflected the increasing pressure on management to arrest the decline.
For now, however, the key point is that interest from Authentic does not mean a sale process is under way. Authentic, which owns Reebok and Champion, has built a reputation for acquiring established consumer brands, but there is currently no indication that Nike is running a formal disposal process for Converse.
That leaves Nike in an awkward middle ground. On one hand, it is standing by Converse and its management team.
On the other, the brand’s continued underperformance is keeping sale speculation alive, especially as Nike pushes through a broader turnaround under Hill.
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