JD Sports sells Canterbury and acquires OneTrueSaxon

Sportswear and fashion retailer JD Sports has announced that it is set to acquire casual clothing brand OneTrueSaxon for 50,000 Pounds, as it also confirms that it is to dispose of its rugby brand Canterbury to Pentland, the owner of Berghaus,

for 22.7 million Pounds.

JD Sports said it has decided to sell the global rugby brand after reviewing the group’s future retail proposition and it just felt that the label wasn’t a “key component”.

The retailer acquired the brand three years ago and added that a “substantial element of Canterbury’s revenue and earnings are located in New Zealand and Australia, territories where the Group has limited operations and which are significantly distant from the core retail focus of the group in the UK and continental Europe”.

With regards to the proposed acquisition of OneTrueSaxon, JD Sports stated that it was “in line with the Group’s strategy of acquiring brand and intellectual property assets”. Following the acquisition, OneTrueSaxon, an England-based clothing and footwear brand, which has been describes as an ‘anti-fashion’ label providing staples such as jackets and polo shorts, will become an “own brand” within the Group.

Peter Cowgill, Executive Chairman of JD said: "Having reviewed the options for Canterbury, we are pleased to have agreed its sale to Pentland on terms which are attractive for JD and provide Pentland with the opportunity to further build and develop the Canterbury brand.

Acquiring the OneTrueSaxon brand will allow us to leverage our in-house expertise and offer new products through our core retail fascias."

The transactions are subject to, and conditional upon, the approval of the company’s shareholders at a meeting on September 13.

Image: OneTrueSaxon