The sportswear giant announced a definitive agreement to sell its Rockport business to a new entity formed by Berkshire Partners and New Balance. The deal includes a total consideration of 280 million US dollars, most of which will be paid in cash with the remainder comprised of notes.

New Balance will contribute with its Drydock business to the new entity, focused on being a leading collection of global footwear brands including Rockport and Drydock’s Aravon, Dunham and Cobb Hill.
The transaction (subject to customary closing conditions) is expected to be completed later in the year. As a result of the transaction, the adidas Group will record a non-operational negative P&L impact in a double-digit million Euro amount, which will be reported in discontinued operations as part of the company’s 2014 results.

Herbert Hainer, CEO of the adidas Group commented: “Rockport is a brand that has performed well over the last years. However, our focus is clearly on sport and operating a brand portfolio with a clear agenda to unleash the potential of athletes and inspire consumers to live active lives. The brown shoe category is not core to this strategy and the sale of Rockport will allow us to reduce complexity and pursue our target consumer more aggressively with the adidas, Reebok and TaylorMade brands”.

Guggenheim Securities, LLC acted as exclusive financial advisor to adidas AG and Ropes & Gray LLP served as legal counsel.

Headquartered in Canton (Massachusetts), the Rockport Company, LLC is a global designer, developer, manufacturer, distributor and retailer of comfort footwear. The brand offers a full line of men’s and women’s footwear sold through a global multi-channel distribution network.

The adidas Group is a global leader in the sporting goods industry, offering a broad portfolio of footwear, apparel and hardware for sport and lifestyle around the core brands adidas, Reebok, TaylorMade and Reebok-CCM Hockey. Headquartered in Herzogenaurach (Germany), the group employs more than 50 000 people across the globe and generated sales of 14.5 billion euros in 2013.