JD Sports has made an offer to buy rival retailer Footasylum for £90.1m.
The cash offer puts a value of 82.3p on each Footasylum share.
Footasylum was founded in 2005 by David Makin, one of JD Sports’ co-founders. Fellow co-founder John Wardle joined Footasylum in 2008 and was chief executive for seven years, before becoming executive chairman in 2015.
Figures from Radius Data Exchange show that Footasylum’s portfolio covers 200,000 sq ft across 61 stores in the UK.
JD Sports operates around 2,400 stores across several fascias, including Blacks, Go Outdoors and Millets, across 18 countries.
JD Sports has said that although operational improvements may be possible “due to economies of scale” across the two companies, the conclusion of any restructuring and integration plans for the combined group will be subject to a strategic review.
However, it confirmed that it does not intend for the acquisition to affect trading at Footasylum for the 12 months following completion.
It added that it does not intend to make any “material changes to the deployment of Footasylum’s fixed assets or materially alter the balance, skills and functions of the employees of the combined group” in the year after the deal completes.
Peter Cowgill, executive chairman of JD Sports, said: “We are pleased to make this offer for Footasylum, which is very complementary to our existing businesses in the UK.
“We believe that there will be significant operational and strategic benefits through the combination of the very experienced and knowledgeable management team at Footasylum and our own expertise.”
Barry Bown, executive chairman of Footasylum, added: “The Footasylum board has concluded that the offer represents the best strategic option for Footasylum and its employees.
“It believes the offer fairly reflects Footasylum’s current market position and prospects on a standalone basis and, as such, that Footasylum shareholders should be given the opportunity to realise value from the offer.”
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