Reebok shareholders approve Adidas buyout

Shareholders of British-based sportswear firm Reebok today approved a £2.1bn (€3.06bn) takeover by Adidas, in a deal the companies hope to close next week.

Reebok shareholders’ approval at the company’s US headquarters near Boston was the final hurdle for a deal that won European Union regulatory approval yesterday.

More than 98% of the votes were cast in favour of the deal, which Reebok and Germany’s Adidas-Salomon announced on August 3.

It generated little controversy among Reebok shareholders because Adidas’ £33 (€48.06) per-share price would grant them a hefty 34% premium over Reebok’s shares before the deal was announced.

Paul Fireman, who bought out the British-based Reebok parent company in 1984 and took it public the next year, has said he would not have agreed to his company’s purchase without assurances that the Reebok name would remain and its work force would stay largely intact.

Adidas-Salomon was willing to pay the high premium because it expects the deal will double its US business and narrow Nike’s market leadership.

Adidas and Reebok expect to keep their brands separate and allow similar trainers at comparable prices to compete side-by-side in shoe stores – a prospect that has led some observers to question whether the combined company could be competing against itself.

Mr Fireman is expected to continue leading Reebok in the short term as the companies integrate, but will eventually step down.