Sports Direct
Encyclopedia
Sports Direct International plc is a British
retailing
group. Founded in 1982 by former county squash
coach Mike Ashley
, the company is now the UK's largest sporting retailer through a number of retail subsidiaries and sports equipment brands. Although now a publicly traded company
on the London Stock Exchange
, Ashley continues to hold around 71% of Sports Direct as of July 2010. The company is also a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
.
in 1982 as a single store in Maidenhead
trading under the name of Mike Ashley Sports. During the 1980's Mike Ashley began opening Sport and Ski shops in and around London
: by 1990, there were three registered and recorded outlets. The chain expanded quickly funded by private money and profit from the stores, and by the late 1990s Ashley had rebranded the chain Sports Soccer and opened over 100 stores across the United Kingdom
. However, as a sole trader and not having to file accounts at Companies House
, little was known about him even by rival retailers. Although sole-trader status preserved his privacy, Ashley was missing out on the limited-liability advantage offered by company status, and in 1999 incorporated the business. In 2002 he went on to buy Lillywhites
, the prestigious sports shop in Piccadilly Circus
.
for £40M, which included the Dunlop
, Slazenger
and Carlton
brands. This was closely followed by the acquisitions of outdoor gear manufacturer Karrimor
, Kangol
for a reported £10M, boxing brand Lonsdale and tennis brand Donnay. Most of these brands were bought from distressed sellers. After looking at a takeover, Sports Direct took a £9 million stake and signed a lucrative long-term deal in August 2005 with troubled brand Umbro
, which has subsequently been acquired by Nike
.
The brands themselves are an increasingly important part of the business, and Sports Direct made £10m from selling the intellectual-property rights to the Slazenger Golf brand to archrival JJB in 2005.
In May 2006 it was also revealed that Ashley had held talks with John Hargreaves, founder of Matalan
on both taking a 25% stake in the troubled retail business and installing mezzanine floors in larger Matalan stores, on which SportsDirect.com outlets could be operated.
In December 2006 it was revealed that Sports Direct has built a 29.4% stake in Blacks Leisure Group
, the owner of Millets.
of Sports World International. He hired Merrill Lynch
, who valued the group at up to £2.5bn ahead of a possible flotation on the London Stock Exchange
. The group debuted on the LSE on 27 February 2007.
. Sports Direct has also held 5% of Amer Sports
, the world's largest sporting goods manufacturer, since January 2008. "[Ashley] likes to park his tanks on peoples' lawns," said a banker.
and Field & Trek. The group employs around 11,000 people in the UK and at stores in Ireland
, the Netherlands
, Belgium
, Luxembourg
, Slovenia
and Portugal
. Sports Direct-branded stores exist under a franchising
agreement in South Africa
and the Middle East
. In 2006 it overtook JJB Sports
as the UK's largest sportswear retailer.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
retailing
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
group. Founded in 1982 by former county squash
Squash (sport)
Squash is a high-speed racquet sport played by two players in a four-walled court with a small, hollow rubber ball...
coach Mike Ashley
Mike Ashley (businessman)
Michael James Wallace "Mike" Ashley is an English millionaire retail entrepreneur in the sporting goods market...
, the company is now the UK's largest sporting retailer through a number of retail subsidiaries and sports equipment brands. Although now a publicly traded company
Public company
This is not the same as a Government-owned corporation.A public company or publicly traded company is a limited liability company that offers its securities for sale to the general public, typically through a stock exchange, or through market makers operating in over the counter markets...
on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
, Ashley continues to hold around 71% of Sports Direct as of July 2010. The company is also a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index
FTSE 250 Index
The FTSE 250 Index is a capitalisation-weighted index consisting of the 101st to the 350th largest companies on the London Stock Exchange. Promotions to and demotions from the index take place quarterly in March, June, September and December...
.
History
Early history
The company was founded by Mike AshleyMike Ashley (businessman)
Michael James Wallace "Mike" Ashley is an English millionaire retail entrepreneur in the sporting goods market...
in 1982 as a single store in Maidenhead
Maidenhead
Maidenhead is a town and unparished area within the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, in Berkshire, England. It lies on the River Thames and is situated west of Charing Cross in London.-History:...
trading under the name of Mike Ashley Sports. During the 1980's Mike Ashley began opening Sport and Ski shops in and around London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
: by 1990, there were three registered and recorded outlets. The chain expanded quickly funded by private money and profit from the stores, and by the late 1990s Ashley had rebranded the chain Sports Soccer and opened over 100 stores across the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. However, as a sole trader and not having to file accounts at Companies House
Companies House
Companies House is the United Kingdom Registrar of Companies and is an Executive Agency of the United Kingdom Government Department for Business, Innovation and Skills . All forms of companies are incorporated and registered with Companies House and file specific details as required by the...
, little was known about him even by rival retailers. Although sole-trader status preserved his privacy, Ashley was missing out on the limited-liability advantage offered by company status, and in 1999 incorporated the business. In 2002 he went on to buy Lillywhites
Lillywhites
Lillywhites is a sports retailer based at Piccadilly Circus, London, United Kingdom. It is currently a division of Sports Direct International.-History:...
, the prestigious sports shop in Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus
Piccadilly Circus is a road junction and public space of London's West End in the City of Westminster, built in 1819 to connect Regent Street with the major shopping street of Piccadilly...
.
Dunlop acquisition
In February 2004 the company acquired Dunlop SlazengerDunlop Slazenger
Dunlop Slazenger was a sports equipment manufacturing company formed by BTR plc by consolidating the various sports brands acquired as part their take-over of Dunlop Holdings in 1985...
for £40M, which included the Dunlop
Dunlop Sport
Dunlop Sport is a tennis, squash, golf, badminton, clothing, travel and bicycle equipment brand, that specializes in sporting goods.After Dunlop Holdings was acquired by BTR plc in 1985, Dunlop Sport was combined with the Slazenger brand which Dunlop had acquired in 1959 to form Dunlop Slazenger...
, Slazenger
Slazenger
Slazenger is a British sports equipment brand name sold throughout the world, involving a variety of sporting categories namely cricket, tennis and hockey...
and Carlton
Carlton Sports
Carlton Sports, a leading producer of badminton rackets and shuttlecocks was established in 1946.Carlton Sports became a subsidiary group of Dunlop Slazenger International located in Greenville, South Carolina, which is now owned by the chain of sport shops Sports World International...
brands. This was closely followed by the acquisitions of outdoor gear manufacturer Karrimor
Karrimor
Karrimor is a brand of outdoor and sports equipment and clothing. It was founded in 1946 by Charles and Mary Parsons with Grace Davies who hand-sewed cotton-duck cycle pannier bags from the upstairs of their Lancashire cycle shop....
, Kangol
Kangol
Kangol is a British clothing company famous for its headwear.Founded in Cleator, Cumbria, England in 1938 by Jaques Spreiregen, Kangol produced hats for workers, golfers, and especially soldiers...
for a reported £10M, boxing brand Lonsdale and tennis brand Donnay. Most of these brands were bought from distressed sellers. After looking at a takeover, Sports Direct took a £9 million stake and signed a lucrative long-term deal in August 2005 with troubled brand Umbro
Umbro
Umbro is an English sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England. The company is now part of Nike. Umbro designs, sources, and markets sport-related apparel, footwear, and equipment...
, which has subsequently been acquired by Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
.
The brands themselves are an increasingly important part of the business, and Sports Direct made £10m from selling the intellectual-property rights to the Slazenger Golf brand to archrival JJB in 2005.
In May 2006 it was also revealed that Ashley had held talks with John Hargreaves, founder of Matalan
Matalan
Matalan is a British retailer that specialises in shoes and clothes. It was founded by John Hargreaves in 1985. It currently has 200 stores across the UK. The 200th store opened on 22 September 2006 in Croydon...
on both taking a 25% stake in the troubled retail business and installing mezzanine floors in larger Matalan stores, on which SportsDirect.com outlets could be operated.
In December 2006 it was revealed that Sports Direct has built a 29.4% stake in Blacks Leisure Group
Blacks Leisure Group
Blacks Leisure Group plc of Northampton, UK owns British outdoor retailers Blacks, Millets and Free Spirit. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE Fledgling Index.-Structure:It is based at , Northampton...
, the owner of Millets.
Going public
In late November 2006, a number of business newspapers reported that Ashley was looking at an IPOInitial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
of Sports World International. He hired Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch is the wealth management division of Bank of America. With over 15,000 financial advisors and $2.2 trillion in client assets it is the world's largest brokerage. Formerly known as Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc., prior to 2009 the firm was publicly owned and traded on the New York...
, who valued the group at up to £2.5bn ahead of a possible flotation on the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange
The London Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located in the City of London within the United Kingdom. , the Exchange had a market capitalisation of US$3.7495 trillion, making it the fourth-largest stock exchange in the world by this measurement...
. The group debuted on the LSE on 27 February 2007.
Recent history
In July 2008 it was disclosed that Sports Direct also held a 12.3% holding in the John David Group, parent of JD SportsJD Sports
JD Sports Fashion plc, more commonly known as just JD, is a sports-fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England with shops throughout the United Kingdom and with one in Ireland...
. Sports Direct has also held 5% of Amer Sports
Amer Sports
Amer Sports Oyj is the largest manufacturer of sporting equipment in the world. Established in 1950, the company is based in Helsinki, Finland...
, the world's largest sporting goods manufacturer, since January 2008. "[Ashley] likes to park his tanks on peoples' lawns," said a banker.
Operations
The group has over 470 UK stores including the chains SportsDirect.com (Sports World prior to 2008), LillywhitesLillywhites
Lillywhites is a sports retailer based at Piccadilly Circus, London, United Kingdom. It is currently a division of Sports Direct International.-History:...
and Field & Trek. The group employs around 11,000 people in the UK and at stores in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
, Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
, Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
and Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Sports Direct-branded stores exist under a franchising
Franchising
Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....
agreement in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. In 2006 it overtook JJB Sports
JJB Sports
JJB Sports plc is a United Kingdom sports retailer. It currently operates 251 stores in the UK and Ireland.- History :The sportshop chain was founded in 1971, when ex-footballer Dave Whelan acquired a single sports shop in Wigan. The original store was established by JJ Broughton in the early...
as the UK's largest sportswear retailer.
Current brands
- CyclesDirect.com
- Field & Trek
- Goldigga - acquired by Sports Direct in 2008.
- LillywhitesLillywhitesLillywhites is a sports retailer based at Piccadilly Circus, London, United Kingdom. It is currently a division of Sports Direct International.-History:...
- SheRunsHeRuns
- SportsDirect.com - internet and high street retail.
Previous brands
- Bike Clearance
- Gilesports - merged into SportsDirect.com
- Hargreaves Sports - merged into SportsDirect.com
- Original Shoe Company - sold to JJB SportsJJB SportsJJB Sports plc is a United Kingdom sports retailer. It currently operates 251 stores in the UK and Ireland.- History :The sportshop chain was founded in 1971, when ex-footballer Dave Whelan acquired a single sports shop in Wigan. The original store was established by JJ Broughton in the early...
in December 2007. - Streetwise Sports - merged into SportsDirect.com
- Sports Soccer - merged into SportsDirect.com
- Sports World - merged into SportsDirect.com
Clothing and equipment
- AntiguaAntigua ApparelAntigua Group, Inc. is an American company based in the Phoenix, Arizona market that specializes in the designing and marketing of men’s, women’s and children’s lifestyle apparel and sportswear, most notably in the golf industry...
- CarltonCarlton SportsCarlton Sports, a leading producer of badminton rackets and shuttlecocks was established in 1946.Carlton Sports became a subsidiary group of Dunlop Slazenger International located in Greenville, South Carolina, which is now owned by the chain of sport shops Sports World International...
- DunlopDunlop SportDunlop Sport is a tennis, squash, golf, badminton, clothing, travel and bicycle equipment brand, that specializes in sporting goods.After Dunlop Holdings was acquired by BTR plc in 1985, Dunlop Sport was combined with the Slazenger brand which Dunlop had acquired in 1959 to form Dunlop Slazenger...
- Donnay
- GoldDigga
- EverlastEverlast (boxing)Everlast is an American brand active in the design, manufacturing, licensing and marketing of boxing, mixed martial arts and fitness related sporting goods equipment, apparel, footwear, and accessories. Based in Manhattan, Everlast's products are sold across more than 75 countries...
- KangolKangolKangol is a British clothing company famous for its headwear.Founded in Cleator, Cumbria, England in 1938 by Jaques Spreiregen, Kangol produced hats for workers, golfers, and especially soldiers...
- KarrimorKarrimorKarrimor is a brand of outdoor and sports equipment and clothing. It was founded in 1946 by Charles and Mary Parsons with Grace Davies who hand-sewed cotton-duck cycle pannier bags from the upstairs of their Lancashire cycle shop....
- Lonsdale
- No FearNo FearNo Fear is a lifestyle clothing brand that was created in 1989 by Mark Simo, Brian Simo, and Marty Moates. No Fear Inc. products are sold at various retail stores and . It also offers No Fear energy drinks under the same brand, in a joint venture with Pepsi. The company currently employs about 450...
(outside North AmericaNorth AmericaNorth America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
) - SlazengerSlazengerSlazenger is a British sports equipment brand name sold throughout the world, involving a variety of sporting categories namely cricket, tennis and hockey...
- Voodoo Dolls