Puma got another jolt of confidence on Thursday as retail billionaire Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group raised its position in the sportswear maker with a $215 million acquisition in the company for a nearly 6 percent stake, according to regulatory filings.
Frasers, will become the second-largest shareholder in Puma and take on 8.5 million shares of the company.
The move is a highlight for the German sportswear maker as it continues a massive turnaround after declaring a $700 million full-year loss in 2025 and announcing several rounds of job cuts. Under new CEO Arthur Hoeld, who has led the company since last April, the brand has aimed to curb slow sales, discounting and revitalized its product offering.
News of the Frasers’ stake comes more than a month after China’s Anta Sports said it would purchase a 29 percent majority stake in Puma from Artemis in January for $1.8 billion, as part of an already busy year for the Herzogenaurach, Germany-based brand.
Anta said it will seek seats on the advisory board as soon as the deal closes and has been intent on retaining Puma’s brand equity and heritage but will be aggressive in reigniting its standing in the marketplace.
Frasers is the parent of UK-based Sports Direct, which has substantial holdings in a number or retailers and Puma is an existing main supplier to the company.
Ashley, meanwhile, has a 73 percent stake in Frasers and the filing shows that the Puma acquisitions was funneled to the company rather than his personal investment arm, Mash Holdings.
Puma’s busy week also came with Wednesday’s annoucement that it would collaborate with Shincell, another Chinese company, on the development of the next version of its Nitro foam. Both companies will work out of a joint laboratory in Suzhou, where Shincell is based, and research new materials along with high-performance midsole components.
Shincell, founded in 2019, uses nitrogen and carbon dioxide gases in foam to produce micro and nano bubbles, and has worked with Anta on its performance footwear since 2021. Meanwhile, Puma’s current Nitro foam debuted in 2021 on the Deviate, Velocity, Liberate and Eternity models.
Shares of Puma rose by as much as 8 percent on Thursday following Frasers’ disclosure.
