Reebok extends influence in Brazil
The adidas Group and Brazil-based Vulcabras S.A. are to form a joint venture company to distribute Reebok footwear, apparel and accessories in Brazil and Paraguay.
Vulcabras chief executive Pedro Grendene Bartelle will be president and chairman of the new company, which will be governed by a board of directors comprising Reebok and Vulcabras executives. Operations will begin on April 1 and the agreement will expire at the end of 2015.
Vulcabras has been the exclusive distributor of Reebok footwear and apparel products in Brazil and Paraguay since 1992. It will continue to supply Reebok products to the joint venture company.
The two companies are also in negotiations to form a joint venture in Argentina, where a Vulcabras subsidiary has been the exclusive distributor of Reebok footwear and apparel since 2004.
Vulcabras is a holding company that develops, manufactures and distributes footwear and apparel through its subsidiaries. The firm produces most of its products at its plants in Ceara, Bahia, Sergipe and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil and Coronel Suárez in Argentina. It has more than 30,000 employees and sales for 2007 totalled $1.1 billion.
