Finland’s Amer Sports gets $5.3 billion bid interest from China’s Anta

HELSINKI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Amer Sports <AMEAS.HE> has received a takeover approach from China’s Anta Sports <2020.HK> and Asian private equity firm FountainVest Partners valuing the Finnish sports equipment maker at more than 4.6 billion euros (4.07 billion pounds).

Amer said that its shareholders would be entitled to a cash consideration of 40 euros per share if the deal came off and shares in the Helsinki-based maker of Salomon hiking boots, Wilson tennis rackets and Arc’teryx outdoor clothing jumped by more than 25 percent to 36 euros at 1042 GMT.

Anta, which sells the Fila and Descente sportswear brands as well as its own home-grown Anta brand in China, has long target Amer as it seeks to expand overseas by acquiring other well-established global brands.

The Finnish firm said the Anta-FountainVest consortium had indicated it would acquire Amer’s entire share capital for cash, adding that a deal was subject conditions including the approval of shareholders holding at least 90 percent of its shares.

“At this time, Amer Sports is not engaged in any negotiations with the consortium and has made no decisions in respect of the indication of interest,” it said in a statement.

The Chinese consortium aims to submit an offer to Amer in the coming weeks and finalise the buyout deal by the end of the year, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Source:http://www.euronews.com/2018/09/11/finlands-amer-sports-gets-5-point-3-billion-bid-interest-from-chinas-anta