JD Sports has offloaded its Footasylum business to German investment group Aurelius.
JD Sports sold Footasylum, which it had been ordered to dispose of by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), for £37.5m.
The deal brings to an end a long-running saga, which included JD being fined for breaching competition rules and contributed to the departure of veteran JD boss Peter Cowgill amid governance concerns.
JD Sports paid £90m for Footasylum in 2019 but was ordered to reverse the purchase on competition grounds. JD and Footasylum were subsequently fined nearly £5m for sharing commercially sensitive information when the two businesses were supposed to be operating independently.
JD said on Monday (August 1) that the sale of Footasylum has been “agreed in accordance with the final undertakings issued by the CMA, following its decision to prohibit JD’s acquisition of Footasylum last year. JD has cooperated with the CMA throughout the divestment process, including ensuring that the purchaser was acceptable to the CMA and met certain key criteria set out within the final undertakings.”
The deal is expected to complete in the next few weeks.
JD interim chief executive Kath Smith said: “I would like to sincerely thank the teams at Aurelius and Footasylum who worked collaboratively with the CMA to agree this transaction.”
- Get the latest stores news and analysis straight to your inbox – sign up for our weekly newsletter
No comments yet