Update on Heatons Transaction

RNS Number : 7043B

Sports Direct International Plc

08 October 2015

 

8 October 2015

Sports Direct International plc

Update on Sports Direct plans for transformative offer for Warrnambool ("Heatons")

Sports Direct International plc ("Sports Direct" or the "Group"), one of Europe's leading sports retailers, is pleased to provide an update and clarification on its proposed acquisition of Heatons, announced on 7 October 2015.

Sports Direct confirms it expects to complete the acquisition of the shares of Heatons it does not already own by April 2016, subject to competition clearance.

Sports Direct already owns 50% of Heatons and will spend a total of €47.5 million to acquire the rest giving the business an imputed value of €95 million.

For clarity, once the transaction is complete, any incremental EBITDA from Heatons will ‎not ‎count towards the Group's revised FY16 target of £420m.

Sports Direct plans a substantial multi-million investment in the Heatons store portfolio over the first years of full ownership. Heatons has 44 stores in the Republic of Ireland and 15 in Northern Ireland. Of these, 37 operate a sports department but only five of the stores is a standalone sports offering. The sports offering, while competitive, can be improved significantly.

Dave Forsey, Chief Executive of Sports Direct, said:

"With a couple of years of continuous investment and by allying the stores to our other Sports Retail operations, I think we will see this is an exceptional acquisition for our shareholders. The Republic of Ireland is the fastest growing economy in Europe, our closest neighbour, the only country with a land border with the UK and is a nation of sport fanatics. Our unique offering, when fully available, will be transformative. The Irish retail sector grew 9.3% last year with clothing and footwear growing at 12.8%, according to the Central Statistics Office, so it is a great place to be."

For further information, please contact:

Sports Direct International plc​​​	T. 0344 245 9200
Dave Forsey, Chief Executive Officer Matt Pearson, Acting Chief Financial Officer
Powerscourt​​​​​​		T. 0207 250 1446
Rory Godson Nick Brown

Notes to Editors

Sports Direct is the UK's leading sports retailer by revenue and operating profit, with approximately 400 stores across the UK. The Group provides an unrivalled range of products, offering exceptional quality and unbeatable value, from a wide variety of third-party and Group-owned brands, both in-store and online. Sports Direct now operates in 20 countries in Europe.

For more information please visit: www.sportsdirectplc.com

 

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