Press reports, brand company Authentic Brands Group and shoe producer Wolverine World Wide together will buy Reebok from Adidas.
The purchase price will be up to US$2.5B and paid mostly in cash upon closing in 2022. That is significantly fewer than what Adidas paid for Reebok. Yet it is substantially more, than what was feared.
With ABG comes its large shareholder, Shaquille O’Neal. The ex basketball star can add a lot of cloud, credibility, and PR to Reebok.
The acquisition is a good story for the Authentic Brands Group IPO. And it should make other shareholders like BlackRock and Leonard Green & Partner quite happy.