Authentic Brands Group Reportedly Offers $1B For Reebok

You may not have heard of Authentic Brands Group, but you definitely know some of the many famous brands it has snapped up.

Now it has another in its sights: Reebok.

Once viewed as a near-equal to Nike, Reebok has lost its cache in recent years. Adidas, which bought Reebok for $3.8 billion in 2005, is now looking to offload it at a much lower price. 

Authentic Brands Group reportedly made an offer to buy Reebok for $1 billion on Thursday. 

Founded in 2010, the privately-owned brand manager has raised $1.1 billion, primarily from an $875 million round led by BlackRock in 2019. In its 11 years, it’s acquired an impressive roster, primarily of clothing, athletic wear, and sponsorship rights.

• Authentic Brands Group owns Sports Illustrated and athletic apparel and equipment brands like Airwalk, Prince Sports, Tapout, and Volcom.
• Its fashion brands include Nine West, Juicy Couture, Brooks Brothers, Aeropostale, and Barneys New York.

Reebok has endorsement deals with Cardi B, J.J. Watt, Victoria Beckham, and a lifetime deal with Allen Iverson. UFC did not renew its apparel partnership with Reebok, signed in 2014, switching to Venum in March.

Two Chinese sportswear manufacturers — Anta Sports and Li Ning — are reportedly also in the running to buy Reebok from adidas. Shaquille O’Neal, who was endorsed by Reebok in both his and the brand’s prime, has expressed interest in buying it, too.

Adidas wants to shed Reebok so that it can focus on its core brand, which has similar market share to Nike in China and Western Europe, but only one-third of the Swoosh’s customer base in North America.