Reuters has this morning reported that British sportswear & fashion retailer JD Sports has purchased Go Outdoors for £112.3 million (US$140.4 million). JD Sports also assumed net debt of around £16 million as part of the deal. The acquisition of outdoor specialist retailer Go Outdoors has beefed-up JD Sports’ presence in the outdoor clothing market.
Based in Sheffield, northern England, Go Outdoors was founded in 1998 by Paul Caplan and John Graham and backed by YFM Equity Partners and, latterly, 3i Group. Trading via 58 UK stores, mainly in out-of-town retail parks, it made a pre-tax profit of £4.9 million on revenue of £202.2 million in its 2015-16 financial year. Following completion of the deal, Caplan and Graham will leave the business.
The acquisition will complement JD Sports’ existing interest in the outdoor market through its Blacks, Millets, Ultimate Outdoors and Tiso businesses. These had combined revenue of over £155 million in 2015-16, trading via 182 stores.
It was noted that the ‘vast majority’ of JD Sports’ existing outdoor stores are situated on the high street and therefore have minimal crossover with those of Go Outdoors.
Reuters reports that shares in JD Sports have risen 53% so far this year as the ‘firm has traded robustly, in contrast to troubled rival Sports Direct’.
www.jdsports.co.uk
www.gooutdoors.co.uk
