Dive Brief:
- Amer Sports, the company behind multiple sports and outdoor apparel brands, including Wilson and Arc’teryx, has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a proposed initial public offering, according to a Thursday announcement.
- The company plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the stock symbol “AS.” However, the number of shares to be offered and the price range for the IPO haven’t been determined. Amer Sports earned $3.5 billion in revenue in 2022, up from $2.4 billion in 2020, according to the filing.
- For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the company’s revenue rose nearly 30% from $2.4 billion to $3.1 billion, gross margin rose to 52.2% from 49.4% and adjusted EBITDA rose to $422.1 million, up from $261.8 million year over year. The company’s net loss widened to $113.9 million, up from $104.4 million year over year.
Dive Insight:
Amer Sports was founded in Helsinki, Finland, in 1950. In 2019, an investor group led by China’s Anta Sports took the company private in a deal valued at $5.2 billion.
Amer Sports operates primarily in three segments — technical apparel, which includes the Arc’teryx and Peak Performance brands; outdoor performance, which includes the Salomon and Atomic brands; and ball and racket sports, which includes Wilson. According to a preliminary filing with the SEC, the global athletic apparel, footwear and sports equipment markets collectively represent a market opportunity of about $522 billion.
As it looks toward growth, Amer Sports is honing in on DTC. Over the past year, the company’s Wilson and Arc’teryx brands have expanded their DTC presence with new physical stores. The company also said in its filing that although Wilson and Salomon are traditionally wholesale businesses, they have grown their DTC channels. As of Sept. 30, Amer Sports had 138 Arc’teryx stores, 114 Salomon stores, nine Wilson stores and over 10,800 global employees.
Those Wilson stores have recently opened in the Mall of America in Minnesota; in Santa Monica, California; and two opened in the Chicago area a year ago. In 2022, Wilson opened a flagship store in New York City. Arc’teryx opened its third retail store in the Chicago area since 2021 in April. The company opened its fourth New York City store in August.
In early 2022, Wilson's president Gordon Devin told Retail Dive that the company was “probably late to the game” when it came to planning and pursuing growth opportunities in the DTC space.
“Through our brand-direct model, we have developed a better understanding of each brand’s target consumers, which has allowed us to elevate brand positioning and customize each brand’s go-to-market strategies to develop deeper and more meaningful relationships with consumers,” Amer Sports said in the filing. The go-to-market strategies are designed to reach target consumers and drive traffic and conversion.
Amer Sports said its brands target consumers seeking premium performance products. There’s a growth opportunity in the segment, as the number of adults globally with a net worth of $100,000 or more rose from 358 million in 2010 to 689 million in 2021, according to Credit Suisse’s 2022 Global Wealth Report cited by Amer Sports.
The company has selected Goldman Sachs, Bank of America Securities, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley as joint book-running managers for the proposed offering, Amer Sports said in its announcement. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported Amer Sports is targeting an IPO of more than $1 billion.
