Adidas completes sale of Rockport brand to Berkshire Partners

By

Monica Karski

Published
Aug 3, 2015

Berkshire Partners, a Boston-based investment firm, together with New Balance Holding, Inc., the investment arm of New Balance, on Monday announced that they have completed the acquisition of The Rockport Company from the adidas Group.

Adidas first made the announcement of the sale when reporting its 2014 fiscal year results back in January, which were positive overall except in the United States. In a strategy-changing move, the company's CEO Herbert Hainer stated it was selling Rockport because it wasn't core to its strategy of focusing on sport.

The German group said the disposal of Rockport for $280 million to a new entity formed by Berkshire Partners and New Balance would result in a "double-digit million euro" hit to 2014 profit and that the sale would take place later in the year.

True to its word, the acquisition is now complete. As part of the transaction, the Rockport Company, a designer and marketer of quality comfort footwear for men and women, will join Drydock Footwear, currently a New Balance affiliate and home to the Cobb Hill, Aravon and Dunham brands, to form The Rockport Group with Bob Infantino serving as CEO.

The Rockport Group, which will remain based in the greater Boston area, will be a new stand-alone parent company for the four brands that will be sold internationally.

The Rockport brand was bought by Reebok in 1986, which was in turn acquired by Adidas in 2006.