It's not impossible for Yao Ming to wear Adi!

3.8 billion dollars! Adidas officially started to acquire Reebok on August 3rd. The marriage between the world's second largest sporting goods company and the third largest sporting goods company means a new wave of challenges to Nike, the "Jianghu boss". Adidas said that the merger still needs to pass the anti-monopoly clause and the signature of Reebok shareholders, and it is planned to be completed in the first half of next year.

In the past 20 years, with the joining of superstars such as Jordan and Woods, and the further development of leisure equipment including running shoes, Nike has gradually replaced Adidas as the leader of the sports market and gradually distanced itself. Moreover, in the past decade, Nike has also signed the Brazilian national team and Manchester United team, and its tentacles have extended to the European football market that Adidas has always monopolized.

Adidas, a German company, bought Reebok, headquartered in Canton, a suburb of Boston, and officially started its duel with Nike in the North American market, especially in track and field sports equipment, which accounts for 50% of the sales of sporting goods in Nike and the United States.

The acquisition plan was released on the evening of August 2, and Adidas bought most of the shares of the other party at the price of 59 dollars per share, which was 34% higher than the closing price of Reebok that afternoon. On August 3rd, at 9: 30 new york time, after the opening of the Instinet electronic trading market, Reebok's share price soared by 32% to $58 per share. After the news conference announcing the merger, Adidas shares rose 5.7% to 156 euros per share.

Uwe Weinreich, a financial expert at HVB Banking Group in Germany, said: "This merger is a win-win situation for both parties. "After the merger of the two brands, the markets in America, Asia and Europe will further expand." However, for Adidas, the most important thing is undoubtedly the influence of Reebok in the American market.

Although its market share in the United States is not as good as Nike's, Reebok has the official jersey sponsorship contracts of the four major sports leagues in North America (baseball MLB, NFL, NBA and hockey NFL), as well as global superstars such as Iverson and Yao Ming, and American street culture spokespersons of hip-hop led by Jay-Z and 50 Cent.

In fact, several companies behind Nike have long been planning strategies to change the passive situation. Puma, the fourth largest sporting goods company in the world, announced a week ago that it would expand in its familiar and unfamiliar sports market, but it was unexpected that Adidas took the lead.

It is reported that the combined annual sales of Adidas and Reebok are about110/000 billion US dollars. Although there is still a certain gap compared with Nike's sales of 137 billion US dollars from 2004 to May this year, Adidas believes that the combined total sales will exceed the sum of the two parties, and there is reason to believe that the shareholders of Reebok will nod to accept this transaction.

Of course, many experts have reservations about the future of this sky-high M&A. As of this newspaper's deadline, Adidas' share price has fallen back to 4 percentage points. However, Adidas is extremely optimistic about this, and believes that the entry of Reebok will increase the net profit of the new Adidas-Solomon-Reebok Sporting Goods Group by 65,438+00% in the next few years. It is estimated that the sales will increase by 5 to 10 percentage point, and the opportunity cost will reach1500 million dollars in the third year after the merger is formally finalized.

At the same time, Adidas also said that after the merger, it does not intend to spend huge sums of money on the adjustment of the cost structure, so the merger will not cause overspending. Paul Fihlman, who is also the president and CEO, will still be in charge of Reebok brand management. For consumers, this merger has not actually brought much difference.

In the evaluation of Dresden Investment Bank in Germany, the word "purchase" was changed to "add", and it was believed that Adidas' market share would increase greatly. The real battlefield is still in America. Adidas has planned many strategies to challenge Nike. Through this vigorous merger, both Adidas and Reebok firmly believe that through Reebok's experience in basketball, rugby, ice hockey and women's sporting goods market, the total sales in the US market can at least double.

"The North American market is the territory you must occupy," said Herbert Heilner, president of Adidas, in a conference call.

In the second quarter of this year, Adidas' global sales except the European market showed an upward trend, successfully reaching the company's expected growth rate of 8.2 percentage points, reaching a total of 65.438+0.52 billion euros. The net profit also increased by 33 percentage points, reaching 94 million euros, which greatly exceeded the 84 million euros predicted by Reuters Finance & Economics 18 experts. In 2005, Adidas also plans to increase the share of retro and discounted products by 20%. Especially in the retro leisure product series, Adidas will continue to promote its "three leaves" logo. With the joining of Reebok, which is famous for its leisure style, the products in this field will occupy a huge proportion in the group formed by future mergers and acquisitions.

In the past few years, Adidas has adopted the strategy of German brother Puma, improved indoor and outdoor training equipment, and taken the route of popularization and leisure, but professional and leisure football equipment will still be the largest part of the company. Some investors are cautious about whether this merger will benefit Reebok, especially the timing-it almost collided with the 2006 World Cup.

"Such a merger is by no means as beautiful as expected: Adidas still focuses on sports itself, while Reebok has slowly turned to a popular lifestyle," said financial expert Volcker Rim. Besides, Adidas has prepared many problems for itself to solve. After all, the World Cup is just around the corner, which is not an easy task for an official sponsor who is changing its name. "With reservations.