JD Sports completes Sport Zone acquisition

JD Sports has announced that it has received unconditional clearance from the European Commission to acquire similar Spanish retailer Sport Zone.

Sport Zone is one of the largest sports retailers in the Iberia area and consists of 94 stores in Portugal and 46 in Spain, including 20 in the Canary Islands.

Other conditions to the transaction have also now been satisfied and JD formally completed its acquisition of Sport Zone on 31 January 2018.

All the terms of the transaction remain as outlined in the announcement made on 14 September 2017, which will see JD own approximately 50% of the shares.

Peter Cowgill, executive chairman of JD, said: “We are delighted that this transaction, which gives us a significantly enhanced presence across Iberia, has now formally completed.

“The financial benefit derived from Sport Zone will depend on how quickly we can deal with the store portfolio, rejuvenate the offer and realise the necessary cost reductions and synergies. We therefore do not anticipate that the acquisition will be immediately earnings enhancing.”

He added: “However, we remain firm in our belief that, utilising the skills of the very experienced and knowledgeable management team at Sport Zone and our own expertise, there are significant opportunities to improve operational efficiencies and profitability over the longer term across the enlarged Iberian business.”