French media: Chinese sports giant Anta faces the challenge of reviving Puma
The newspaper Le Figaro reported on its business news page that Chinese sports equipment giant Anta Sports has acquired a 29% stake in German sport brand Puma for 150 million euros, becoming its largest shareholder, marking a key step in its accelerated global expansion and challenging the duopoly of Nike and Adidas.
In 2007, the Pinault family's PPR Group (later renamed Kering) acquired Puma at a high price of 5.3 billion euros, when the brand was showing strong signs of revival and had shaken the market. However, Puma's growth stagnated afterward, and the PPR's lifestyle sports strategy failed. In 2018, the group, unable to sell Puma, distributed its shares as a special dividend to shareholders, making the Pinault family the major shareholder and seeking a high price exit. In recent years, Puma has been under pressure in the duopoly of Nike and Adidas, and has also been affected by emerging trend brands and unfavorable environments such as tariffs, leading to continuous deterioration in operations. By 2025, it has already suffered losses and urgently needs revitalization.
The report pointed out that through this transaction, Anta hopes to leverage its experience in the Chinese market and multi-brand operations to drive the recovery of Puma's business in China and around the world; however, whether Anta can successfully revitalize the brand remains to be tested by the market.
Source: rfi
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1855571621702667/
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