JD Sports has purchased 80 per cent of Greek retailer Cosmos Sport for an undisclosed fee, expanding its presence in European markets.
The highly profitable high street sportswear retailer told investors today that it had reached a deal to acquire the shares from EOS Capital as well as the founding Tsiknakis family.
Founded in 1982 by Fragiskos Tsiknakis, who remains active but has since handed over operational duties to his three sons, Cosmos generated revenues of approximately €52million in 2020.
JD Sports Fashion has taken an 80 per cent stake in Cosmos for an undisclosed fee
Under the Tsiknakis brothers – CEO Michail, head of property and private label Eleftherios, and head of commercial and buying Konstantinos – Cosmos operates 57 stores in Greece and three in Cyprus under a variety of retail banners and associated trading websites.
The 32 flagship Cosmos stores offer ‘an elevated sporting goods/lifestyle proposition’, JD said, while the 19 Sneaker 10 stores specialise in premium footwear.
At the time of the transaction, Cosmos was 70 per cent owned by the Tsiknakis family, while EOS owned 30 per cent. EOS has disposed of its entire investment in the company.
While the size of the transaction does not meet the thresholds for mandatory public disclosure, JD said on Friday that put and call options have been agreed ‘to enable future exit opportunities for the Tsiknakis family with whom we will work in partnership’.
Executive chairman of JD Sports Fashion Peter Cowgill said: ‘This is another exciting acquisition for JD that further expands our presence in Europe.
‘We welcome the highly experienced and knowledgeable Tsiknakis family to the group and we look forward to working with them on the development opportunities in the region.’
JD has seen strong performance throughout the economic recovery, reporting record-breaking profits of £364.6million in September and revising full-year forecasts from £550million to an unprecedented haul of £750million.
Cowgill was forced to defend a £4.3million bonus in the wake or the results, with critics pointing to the £100million worth of Government support JD received during the Covid-19 crisis.
JD Sports shares are up 2.2 per cent in early trading to 1,062p, having risen 30.6 per cent year-to-date.
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