Amer Sports, Wilson and Arc’teryx owner, files for US IPO

Sports conglomerate Amer Sports has officially filed for an initial public offering (IPO) on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) amid efforts to bolster funding to pay back debts.

The group, which owns the likes of Arc’teryx, Salomon and tennis racket manufacturer Wilson, appointed Goldman Sachs & Co., BofA Securities, J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley as joint book-tunning managers for the proposed offering.

Meanwhile, a selection of banks – namely HSBC, UBS Investment Bank and BNP Paribas, among others – are to act as bookrunners.

While the exact number of shares and their price range for the offering has not yet been determined, according to a regulatory filing by Amer Sports, the Financial Times said that Amer’s owners took out a 1.3 billion euro loan expiring in March to finance the listing.

Sources for the media outlet had also previously said that the goal was to raise more than one billion dollars at a valuation of 10 billion dollars, with the funding to reportedly go towards outstanding shareholder loans.

Amer reportedly seeks support for mounting debt

Amer, founded in Finland in 1950, was acquired in a 5.6 billion dollar deal in 2019 by a consortium led by Anta Sports, a Chinese firm that produces sportswear under its own operations.

In the last year, the company’s financials have taken a hit, with widening losses over the first nine months of 2023, despite revenues seeing a sharp 30 percent increase to 3.1 billion dollars.

Amer’s filing also comes amid a turbulent IPO market, with companies raising 123 billion dollars globally last year, down from 184 billion dollars in 2022 and 460 billion dollars in 2021, according to figures for FT by EY.

The accountancy cited high inflation, rising interest rates and poor market performance as the causes, yet noted that the possibility of lowered interest rates “could encourage investors by offering a more reliable return on investment in IPOs, which should boost activity”.