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Birmingham Post
Birmingham Post
Business
Jon Robinson

JD Sports completes sale of five brands to Mike Ashley's Frasers Group

JD Sports has completed the sale of five brands to Mike Ashley's Frasers Group.

The Greater Manchester-headquartered giant has sold Tessuti (inc Xile), Scotts, Choice, Giulio and Cricket to the owner of Sports Direct and House of Fraser.

The deal was first announced in December when an agreement was reached for JD Sports to dispose of 15 brands.

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The overall deal was agreed for up to £47.5m and is to be paid by Frasers Group's existing cash resources.

However, it has also been announced that Rascal Clothing has been withdrawn from the transaction after one of the founders exercised a pre-emption right.

The divestment of Rascal completed on February 6, 2023.

JD Sports added: "The group expects to complete the divestment of the business which trades as Topgrade Sportswear in due course."

The deals for Base Childrenswear, Clothingsites (including Brown Bag Clothing), Kids Cavern, Missy Empire, Nicholas Deakins, Pretty Green, Prevu Studio, Scotts and Watch Shop were completed on exchange.

A JD Sports statement issued in December said: "The divestment of these businesses will allow the group to focus more fully on the opportunities across the rest of the group, in particular the international and digital expansion of the group's core premium sports fashion fascias."

The deals come after JD Sports set out its vision to become the world's "leading global sports-fashion powerhouse".

The group has drawn up a five-year plan that is being presented to analysts and investors.

In an update to the London Stock Exchange, JD Sports said it is aiming to put its JD brand first, focus on "complementary concepts" and "people, partners and communities" as well as look "beyond" physical retail.

The plan also includes double digit revenue growth, market share in "key regions" and operating margin.

JD Sports is also targeting capital expenditure of between £500m and £600m every year with 50% to 60% focused on store expansion in "underpenetrated markets" with 250 to 350 new JD stores per year.

It also wants to generate £1bn every year in cash from its operating activities.

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