JD Sports has acquired a majority stake in a Greek counterpart to expand its presence in Europe.
The Greater Manchester-headquartered group has snapped up 80% of Cosmos Sport S.A. for an undisclosed sum.
Based in Crete, Cosmos was founded in 1982 by Fragiskos Tsiknakis who continues to be active in the business although he has handed over day to day operational responsibility to his three sons Michail (CEO), Eleftherios (head of property and private label) and Konstantinos (head of commercial and buying).
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Prior to completion, Cosmos was 70% owned by the Tsiknakis family with EOS Capital Partners AIFM, who invested into the business in 2019, holding a 30% stake. EOS has now disposed of its entire holding.
Cosmos operates 57 stores in Greece and three in Cyprus under a variety of retail banners and associated trading websites with the principal ones being Cosmos (32 stores) which is the core fascia of the business and has an elevated sporting goods / lifestyle proposition and Sneaker 10 (19 stores) which has a more premium footwear offer.
In the year ended December 31, 2020, Cosmos generated revenues of approximately €52m.
A JD Sports statement issued to the London Stock Exchange said: "The size of the transaction does not meet the thresholds for mandatory notification under Listing Rule 10.
"However, we can confirm that put and call options have been agreed, to enable future exit opportunities for the Tsiknakis Family with whom we will work in partnership."
Executive chairman Peter Cowgill added: "This is another exciting acquisition for JD that further expands our presence in Europe.
"We welcome the highly experienced and knowledgeable Tsiknakis family to the group and we look forward to working with them on the development opportunities in the region."
