JD Sports Fashion makes Spanish acquisition

20th Jun 2011 07:07

Trendy sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion has gained a foothold in Spain with the acquisition of the businesses of Sprinter, a sports chain operating in the south of the country.JD Sprinter Holdings, a joint venture in which JD Sports Fashion holds 50.1%, acquired Sprinter's trading businesses, which include 47 shops in the Andalusia and Levante regions. The remaining 49.9% of the shares are owned by the Segarra family, who founded Sprinter in 1981, and the Bernad family, who have been investing in it for about 15 years.JD Sports has invested €20m (£17.7m) into Sprinter through a subscription for shares. JD Sports said it intends to continue expanding the Sprinter chain, while establishing a joint venture that will seek to roll out the JD Sports brand in Spain.JD Sports has also acquired the businesses and assets of eight of the fashion chain Cecil Gee's stores from their owner Moss Group, for £1.7m. It said it will continue to trade these stores with an enhanced but similar premium branded fashion offering.Moss, which is seeking to focus on its main business selling suits, said it plans to convert the remaining Cecil Gee shop into a Moss outlet."We are very pleased to announce these two acquisitions which both result from our strategy of selectively expanding our European retail presence and increasing our exposure to a broader portfolio of premium brands," said JD Sports chairman Peter Cowgill. "We look forward to working with the very experienced and knowledgeable management team in Spain and bringing our own expertise to bear as we continue to develop JD's presence in Europe." Moss also took the opportunity to update on current trading. It said it expects its outcome for the full year to be ahead of current forecasts.---RG