On 10 April, Chinese sportswear giant Anta Sports announced that it had entered an agreement with Topgolf Callaway Brands to acquire 100% of its shares in the German outdoor brand Jack Wolfskin. The agreed price is 290 million USD, and the deal will be completed in late Q2 or early Q3 this year if all other closing conditions are met.
Jack Wolfskin is affectionately called “Wolf’s Paw” (狼爪) in China after its iconic logo. The brand was founded in 1981, with its German headquarters in Idstein. Jack Wolfskin is a leading brand in hiking, cycling, skiing and camping with high-tech innovations such as its Texapore series of materials. It was acquired by Callaway Golf (Now Topgolf) in 2019 for 476 million USD.
Last year, Jack Wolfskin made the news in China for terminating its US business to go “all in” in China. This was because, as part of Topgolf, it was considered an American company. According to Topgolf’s annual report, Jack Wolfskin underwent a successful restructuring and offset its European decline with gains in profitability in China.
Anta Sports’s share price went up 1.62% to 81.55 HKD (10.51 USD) on 10 April, making its market value 228.9 billion HKD (29.50 billion USD). The latest acquisition still adheres to Anta’s strategy of diversifying with multiple brands and expanding globally. For Anta, acquiring Jack Wolfskin is a great step to not only have an outdoor and performance wear brand under its belt but also to further increase its presence in Europe.
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