Why Now Might Be A Good Time For Adidas To Sell Its Reebok Brand

Adidas might sell its struggling Reebok brand, potentially taking advantage of the strength of athletic goods, which have been a bright spot in apparel during the Covid-19 crisis.

On Monday, Adidas (ticker: ADDYY) said it was reviewing Reebok’s future, which could include a sale. The news comes ahead of the company’s five-year blueprint, which it is set to present in March, although the German athletic giant said it could ultimately decide to keep the brand.

Adidas purchased Reebok for $3.6 billion (A$4.76 billion) in 2006, as it looked to extend its reach in the U.S. But the process wasn’t a smooth one, and Adidas Chief Executive Kasper Rørsted announced a turnaround plan for Reebok shortly after he took the helm in 2016. On the one hand, that has been a success in that Reebok once again became profitable, two years ahead of schedule, and last year increased U.S. sales by double digits.

In another sense, though, Reebok remains a weak point in Adidas’s portfolio. It has lagged behind during the pandemic, with third-quarter sales falling 12.3%, nearly double the flagship brand’s 6.7% decline. Some analysts estimate that Reebok could sell for as little as $2.3 billion (A$3.04 billion), well under what Adidas paid for it.

While many investors have called on Adidas to divest itself of the brand before, now could be a particularly auspicious time for such a move. The pandemic has decimated demand for clothing and accessories in general, as people work and learn at home, but athleisure has bucked that trend.

Companies such as Nike (NKE) and Lululemon Athletica (LULU) have seen sales shrink much less dramatically than peers this year, and have been rewarded with rallies of 34.5% and 52%, respectively. Partner and third-party retailers, including Foot Locker (FL) and Nordstrom (JWN), have highlighted strength in fitness categories, as well, in recent earnings reports.

Athleisure isn’t a new trend, but consumers’ renewed focus on health and comfort during Covid has been a major tailwind. That has led for renewed calls for other companies to sell their outperforming fitness-focused labels, such as Gap’s (GPS) Athleta, although Gap said it plans to hold on to the brand.

That means that if Adidas were to sell Reebok in the near future, it could fetch a higher price, especially if it can continue to show improvement throughout the holiday season.

That would be welcome news for the stock. Compared with Nike and Lululemon, Adidas hasn’t done as well. Its American depositary receipts are up just over 7% year to date, and the European shares have been laggards.

The number of U.S. billionaires in the world reached 870 in mid-January, outpacing the number in China for the first time in 10 years, according to a snapshot of the wealthiest in the world by the Hurun Report.

The U.S. gained 70 billionaires since last year, powered by a rising stock market, a strong dollar, and the insatiable appetite for all things AI, according to the 14th annual Hurun Global Rich List . China gained nine billionaires overall for a total of 823. Hurun is a China-based research, media, and investment group.

“It’s been a good year for AI, money managers, entertainment, and crypto,” Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report, said in a news release. “It’s been a tough year for luxury, telecommunications, and real estate in China.”

Overall, the Hurun list—which reflects a snapshot of global wealth based on calculations made Jan. 15—counted 3,442 billionaires in the world, up 5%, or 163, from a year ago. Their total wealth rose 13% to just under $17 trillion.

In November, New York research firm Altrata reported that the billionaire population rose 4% in 2023 to 3,323 individuals and their wealth rose 9% to $12.1 trillion.

Elon Musk, CEO of electric-car maker Tesla and right-hand advisor to President Donald Trump, topped the list for the fourth time in five years, with recorded wealth of $420 billion as of mid-January as Tesla stock soared in the aftermath of the U.S. election, according to Hurun’s calculations.

The firm noted that Musk’s wealth has since nosedived about $100 billion, falling along with shares of Tesla although the EV car maker is benefiting on Thursday from Trump’s 25% tariff on cars made outside the U.S.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk’s wealth stood at about $336 billion as of the market’s close on Wednesday, although measuring his exact wealth —including stakes in his privately held companies and the undiscounted value of his Tesla shares—is difficult to precisely determine.

The overall list this year contained 387 new billionaires, while 177 dropped off the list—more than 80 of which were from China, Hurun said. “China’s economy is continuing to restructure, with the drop-offs coming from a weeding out of healthcare and new energy and traditional manufacturing, as well as real estate,” Hoogewerf said in the release.

Among those who wealth sank was Colin Huang, the founder of PDD Holdings —the parent company of e-commerce platforms Temu and Pinduoduo—who lost $17 billion.

Also, Zhong Shanshan, the founder and chair of the Nongfu Spring beverage company and the majority owner of Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise , lost $8 billion from “intensifying competition” in the market for bottled water. The loss knocked Zhong from his top rank in China, which is now held by Zhang Yiming founder of Tik-Tok owner Bytedance. Zhang is ranked No. 22 overall.

Hurun’s top 10 billionaires is a familiar group of largely U.S. individuals including Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and Larry Ellison. The list has France’s LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault in seventh place, three notches down from his fourth ranked spot on the Bloomberg list, reflecting a slump in luxury products last year.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is ranked No. 11 on Hurun’s list as his wealth nearly tripled to $128 billion through Jan. 15. Other AI billionaires found lower down on the list include Liang Wenfeng, 40, founder and CEO of DeepSeek, with wealth of $4.5 billion and Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, with $1.8 billion.

Also making the list were musicians Jay-Z ($2.7 billion), Rihanna ($1.7 billion), Taylor Swift ($1.6 billion), and Paul McCartney ($1 billion). Sports stars included Michael Jordan ($3.3 billion), Tiger Woods ($1.7 billion), Floyd Mayweather ($1.3 billion), and LeBron James ($1.3 billion).

Wealth continues to surge across the globe, but Hoogewerf noted those amassing it aren’t overly generous.

“We only managed to find three individuals in the past year who donated more than $1 billion,” he said. Warren Buffet gave $5.3 billion, mainly to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, while Michael Bloomberg —ranked No. 19 with wealth of $92 billion—gave $3.7 billion to various causes. Netflix founder Reed Hastings, ranked No. 474 with wealth of $6.2 billion, donated $1.1 billion.

Why Now Might Be A Good Time For Adidas To Sell Its Reebok Brand

The U.S. now has more billionaires than China for the first time in a decade, driven by AI and a booming stock market.