Footwear retailer Accent Group to launch British | Australian Markets
Australia’s greatest footwear retailer Accent Group has signed a deal with London-listed Frasers Group to launch British sporting items giant Sports Direct Down Under.
Frasers — behind manufacturers Jack Wills, Slazenger and Everlast — has dedicated about $60.4 million to increase its stake in Accent from 14.65 per cent to 19.57 per cent at a price of $1.718 per new share. This represents a 3.5 per cent low cost to Accent’s closing share price of $1.78 on Friday.
Accent will use the subscription proceeds for an initial roll-out of at the very least 50 Sports Direct shops in Australia and New Zealand over the following six years. Accent and Frasers plan to in the end have a community of more than 100 shops.
Accent will operate Sports Direct in Australia and New Zealand for an initial 25-year time period. It may have entry to Frasers’ owned manufacturers — like Lonsdale, USA Pro and Hot Tuna — to promote in Sports Direct and different Accent shops.
The deal introduced on Tuesday is set to shake up Australia’s $5 billion fitness and athletic retail market, dominated by Super Retail Group’s Rebel. Accent shares closed up 4.7 per cent to $1.90, whereas Super Retail Group fell 2.9 per cent to $12.72.
Frasers is one of the world’s greatest retailers of sports activities, premium and luxurious manufacturers with more than 1500 shops in over 30 international locations. In the 2024 financial yr, Frasers reported a income of £5.5b ($11.4b), with its UK Sports section producing £2.9b in income throughout over 800 shops.
Accent has more than 900 shops — together with The Athlete’s Foot, Platypus, Hype DC and Nude Lucy — in Australia and New Zealand.
Accent chief govt Daniel Agostinelli mentioned the deal with Frasers got here after intensive discussions.
“Frasers and Accent see a significant opportunity to bring a new and exciting global sports business to the Australian and New Zealand markets,” he mentioned.
Frasers Group chief govt Michael Murray mentioned the partnership reaffirmed its dedication to drive growth of the Sports Direct model internationally and marked a important step ahead in its ambition to turning into the main international sporting items retailer.
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