JD seals £20m Blacks deal
Sportstextiles.com can confirm that UK sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion has bought 290 of Blacks Leisure’s stores out of administration for £20 million.
JD Sports bought the stores, which trade under the Blacks and Millets names, and the bulk of the rest of the business immediately after Blacks Leisure was put into administration.
Blacks appointed KPMG as administrator earlier as it admitted it has failed to find an outright buyer after putting itself up for sale following poor trading. Blacks employed some 3,500 staff and it is understood they will keep their jobs, but redundancies are thought to be inevitable.
Its new owner said it will evaluate the performance of each store before it decides how many to close.
JD executive chairman Peter Cowgill said he hopes to restore Blacks to its profitable, market-leading position as it rejuvenates the offer, closes loss-making stores and makes cost savings.
The deal means that the stores, the stock, and the brands including Eurohike and Peter Storm will be transferred to JD Sports but its debts of more than £30 million will be scrapped.
JD said the deal would lead to a “minor reduction” in earnings in the year to January 28 but it anticipates the following year’s figures will not be materially affected.
