Adidas shortlists bidders in Reebok sale -sources - Reuters

Reuters | July 1, 2021, 3:57 a.m. | Original

FRANKFURT, July 1 (Reuters) - Adidas (ADSGn.DE) has drawn up a shortlist of bidders for its Reebok brand as it seeks to draw a line under an ill-fated investment that never lived up to the German sporting goods company's expectations, sources close to the matter said.

U.S. rival Wolverine (WWW.N) , which has partnered with brand transformation specialist Authentic Brands Group, has been asked to submit a final bid in August, as have buyout firms Advent, CVC, Cerberus and Sycamore, the sources said.

Adidas bought U.S. fitness label Reebok for $3.8 billion in 2006 to help to compete with arch-rival Nike (NKE.N) , but its sluggish performance led to repeated calls from investors to dispose of the brand, which is now expected to fetch up to 1 billion euros ($1.2 billion).

Adidas declined to comment.

The prospective bidders also declined to comment or were not immediately available for comment.

(Corrects typographical error in headline)

($1 = 0.8441 euros)

Reporting by Arno Schuetze and Alexander Hubner Editing by David Goodman

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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