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LONDON (Alliance News) - Sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion PLC on Monday said it has bought outdoor clothing and equipment retailer Go Outdoors Topco Ltd for GBP112.3 million.
Go Outdoors owns 58 stores across the UK, the majority of which are situated in out-of-town retail parks. In the year ended January 31, it made revenue of GBP202.2 million and a pretax profit of GBP4.9 million.
JD Sports will also acquire net debt of around GBP16 million as part of the acquisition.
JD Sports said the acquisition will complement its interest in the outdoor market through its Blacks, Millets, Ultimate Outdoors and Tiso businesses, which in the year to the end of January had combined revenue in excess of GBP155 million, with 182 stores trading at the year end.
The retailer pointed out that the vast majority of those stores are situated on the high street and therefore will have minimal crossover with Go Outdoors.
Following completion, Go Outdoors Founders Paul Caplan and John Graham will leave the company.
"Go Outdoors is a great addition to our existing outdoor business. The minimal overlap in store locations and their out-of-town, one-stop retailer approach complements the work we have done on the high street with Blacks and Millets and further strengthens our offering in the outdoor sector. I am excited by the future prospects this holds for the JD group," JD Sports Executive Chairman Peter Cowgill said in a statement..
Separately, venture capital trust British Smaller Cos VCT PLC released a statement detailing its disposal of its interest in Go Outdoors to JD Sports for GBP14.1 million.
British Smaller Cos said it would realise a capital profit of GBP13.9 million and see a GBP3.4 million uplift to its net asset value, equivalent to 3.5 pence per share.
Shares in JD Sports were up 0.2% at 320.00 pence Monday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; karolinakaminska@alliancenews.com @KarolinaAllNews
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