HEILBRONN and ESSEN, Germany, January 10, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --
INTERSPORT Deutschland eG and the SIGNA Sports Group have agreed on a strategic partnership. As both companies announced today, the business relationship will be officially initiated on 15 January 2018. This will strengthen INTERSPORT still further in their position as the Number One on the German sports market. The SIGNA Sports Group in turn are reinforcing their base for further dynamic multi-channel growth in Europe.
INTERSPORT Deutschland and the SIGNA Sports Group will in future be concentrating their interests on the German and international procurement markets alike, and acting together under the joint arrangement of the INTERSPORT Group. The contractual agreement makes provision that, as from mid-January 2018, as a first step, Karstadt Sports GmbH will be adopted under the central control of INTERSPORT. Within the SIGNA Sports Group, Tennis-Point GmbH are already in a successful co-operation with INTERSPORT Deutschland eG, and in future more companies from the SIGNA Sports Group will be following suit. This will result in the purchasing volumes of both partners being strategically merged.
"For the proprietor-run specialist sports sector in Germany, the partnership with the SIGNA Sports Group is a powerful signal. By joining forces, we are making ourselves heard, as the INTERSPORT combination, even more strongly than before. In times of major market changes in particular, it is a decisive step to forge strategic alliances. This also provides us with the best possible preconditions to continue our financial success in the future as a group," says Kim Roether, INTERSPORT Chief Executive.
Dr. Stephan Fanderl, CEO at SIGNA Retail, emphasises that: "By way of the partnership with INTERSPORT, the SIGNA Sports Group are bolstering their national and international skills and resources in procurement and service, and are laying the foundation for further growth as one of Europe's leading multi-channel sports platforms."
INTERSPORT as a Six-Country Union
Since 2013 the German and Austrian INTERSPORT concerns have been interconnected. With some 1,500 sales outlets, and achieving a turnover of 2.9 billion Euro, INTERSPORT Germany is the most successful middle-sized corporate group in the specialist sports sector. The group also holds a participation in INTERSPORT Polska S.A.. INTERSPORT Austria, with more than 280 outlets, is the most well-known brand name on the sports market in Austria, as well as servicing the markets in Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia under licensing arrangements. Within the INTERSPORT Group, more than 1,800 outlets in the six countries achieve a sales turnover of more than 3.5 billion Euro.
The SIGNA Sports Group
The SIGNA Sports Group, with sales of about 600 million EUR and an online share of more than 60%, is the leading retail group and multi-channel platform for sports articles in Germany, and, with 52 online shops in 18 countries so far, is one of the Top Five in Europe. The Group owns Karstadt Sports and holds majority interests in Internetstores (No. 1 for cycle sports and outdoor pursuits), Tennis-Point (No. 1 for tennis), in OUTFITTER (No. 2 for football, running sports, and team sports), as well as in Probikeshop, the leading online bike retailer in France and Southern Europe.
Further inquiries: INTERSPORT Deutschland eG Michael Steinhauser Head Corporate Communications Tel.: +49-7131-288-340 Mobile: +49-172-6280-310 Email: msteinhauser@intersport.de SIGNA Sports Group Dr. Stefan Hartwig +49-201-7272030
