JD Sports has bought the 40 per cent of Polish retailer Marketing Investment Group (MIG) it doesn’t already own, making it the sole owner.
The sports fashion retailer first bought a 60 per cent stake in MIG back in April 2021, at which point MIG operated 410 stores across nine European countries, largely in Central and Eastern Europe. MIG generated revenue of about £270m in the year ended January 31.
The latest deal will be subject to competition approval by the European Commission, expected to be completed “no later” than the final quarter of this year.
JD Sports CEO Régis Schultz said: “Acquiring the remaining 40 per cent stake in MIG allows us to accelerate the development of JD in Central and Eastern Europe, the strong foundations for which have been established alongside the outgoing shareholders.”
In February, Schultz revealed his plans to make JD “the leading global sports-fashion powerhouse.”
Since then it has announced plans to buy French sportswear retailer Groupe Courir in a deal worth around €520m (£453m), and entered into a 10-year franchise partnership with Dubai-headquartered GMG which should see it open 50 JD-branded stores in the Middle East by 2028.
Last month, it agreed to spend £427m to buy out the minority shareholders in its Spanish business Iberian Sports Retail Group (ISRG).
In May, JD reported profits less than £10m short of £1bn for the financial year to January 28, and predicted that it would break the milestone £1bn barrier over the next financial year.
