Frasers Group, the UK-based retail giant and parent of Sports Direct, has acquired nearly 9 percent of Under Armour based on regulatory filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
According to the disclosure from October 1, Frasers took on almost 16.6 million Class A shares for an 8.78 percent stake in the sportswear maker and continues its trend of investing in companies outside of its core brands.
Under Armour founder and CEO Kevin Plank has around 65 percent of the company’s voting power and is still the sole majority shareholder, making it highly unlikely that Frasers would attempt a bid for a takeover.
Frasers is owned and controlled by Mike Ashley, who founded Sports Direct in 1982 and eventually expanded the retail chain through a series of acquisitions and investments. In 2018, he took on House of Fraser after it entered administration to avoid insolvency and added it to his portfolio.
Ashley renamed the company Frasers Group and continued to expand its reach, taking on significant investments in Hugo Boss, ASOS, Mulberry, Hornby, AO World, Boohoo Group, THG and others as part of a strategy to take on sizable portions of struggling business.
Meanwhile, Frasers operates its wholly-owned brands outside of Sports Direct, like Flannels, Jack Wills, Everlast, Slazenger, Evans Cycles, GAME and USC.
Finding its footing with Under Armour comes at a time when the Baltimore-based sportswear brand continues to navigate its way through a major turnaround effort after forecasting a yearly decline on weaker sales. In August, the company said in its first quarter earnings report that it was weathering a “challenging consumer demand environment.”
The ongoing revamp dates back to 2024, when Under Armour first announced a plan to work on boosting its financial and “operational efficiencies” and the strategy was revised last November to focus on core products. But that move also came with a shocking split from NBA superstar Stephen Curry after 13 years and in August, The Rock would also end his longtime association with the company.
Under Armour also said it would reduce its product offering as part of a series of cost-saving measures.
In January, the company saw a major boost after Fairfax Financial upped its stake in the brand by increasing its holdings 22 percent by buying an additional 13.1 million shares. Under Armour’s stock price peaked at $45.41 in April 2016 and is more than 90 percent below its all-time high.
Shares of Under Armour closed at $4.70 on Monday and remained flat in after-hours trading after opening at $4.55.
