The US is the biggest market in the world for athletic apparel and JD Sports Fashion (JD.) has sounded the starting gun on a major push into the country with a bid for The Finish Line, an American sportswear retailer, for $558m (£396m). The deal is expected to substantially improve both JD's online and retail presence in the US, and it is hoped will allow JD to export its success in the UK and continental Europe across the pond.
Executive chairman Peter Cowgill called the deal “transformational” for the sports retailer. Indeed, The Finish Line is already well-established with $1.84bn in sales in the year to February 2017 and pre-tax profit of $54m. It currently operates 556 stores across the US and in Puerto Rico, and is the exclusive retailer of athletic shoes for American department store chain Macy’s, operating 375 branded and 188 unbranded concessions within these stores. The deal is expected to complete around June this year and should be EPS-positive in the year to February 2019.
