COMPANY FOCUSCOMPANY:Authentic BrandsFOUNDED:New York, USA 2010AVAILABLE FROM: (Reebok)jdsports.co.uk Sports Direct & Flannels owner, Frasers Group, are in talks with Reebok owner, Authentic Brands, about a potential partnership for operations in the UK & Europe. Authentic Brands which currently owns Reebok is apparently in talks with Frasers Group about their operations in the UK & Europe. The move would see the Sports Direct & Flannels owner take control of operations for the Bolton born sportswear brand, Reebok. Sold to Authentic Brands in August 2021 from adidas for $2.5 billion the iconic sportswear brand is famed for its “all leather” classics from the 1980s such as the Club C & the Workout. Authentic Brands also currently owns Sperry which was purchased from Wolverine World Wide earlier this year. Hanesbrands also announced in June 2024 their plans to sell the pioneers of “reverse weave”, Champion, to Authentic Brands for $1.2 bullion. As far as a brand management company goes it’s no surprise that Frasers Group want to muscle in on the “all athletic” brand distribution company with talks apparently underway about a partnership for operations across the UK & Europe. Here in the UK, Frasers Group have pretty much snapped up the luxury designer retail space in recent years. Earlier in the year it was confirmed they were purchasing the Sunderland based impendent Aphrodite 1994, which closely followed by Coggles and more recently the Northampton based independent, Thackerays. 2023 saw a purchase of various retail brands from JD Sports such as Scotts & Tessuti, with the majority of e-commerce stores now linking directly to Flannels. With a brand like Reebok also under the operations arm of Frasers Group, it’s not clear at this stage what that would actually look from a B2B perspective. Keep posted at Sneaker Jobs for more exclusive news.