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2020 has seen many companies bought and resold to either consolidate or make a profit.
The latest company to pull the trigger will definitely affect the sneaker world as adidas is preparing to sell Reebok, which it purchased back in 2005 for $3.8 billion from Herbert Hainer. According to a source close to the matter, the company will decide to proceed with the sale or not.
The news isn’t completely surprising. Kasper Rorsted came on as Reebok’s CEO in 2016, and since then, rumors have constantly come to light and gone dark on the possible sale of the Boston-based sportswear and footwear brand. But as recently as 2019, he understood that Reebok was losing market share and was ready to return things back to its former glory.
While many companies were experiencing tons of growth at the turn of the decade, the pandemic slowed business– but Reebok and its parent company made sure things were business as usual. At the same time, other sportswear giants like Nike closed stores.
“Closing down is easy, staying open in a healthy environment requires courage, persistence and focus,” Rorsted wrote. “For all coronavirus-related decisions we will—as a general principle—follow local regulations as different regions/countries/markets are impacted at a different level at any point in time. In all regions and countries where legislation allows, we expect the leadership teams to be working from our offices on a daily basis… Where work is conducted from home, we ask for your utmost focus and dedication to do your job as good as possible every day.”
However, in adidas’ Q2 2020 earnings report, the filings reported that Reebok revenues were down 42% year over year. adidas has yet to comment on the report.
