Skechers to acquire Scandinavian distributor

Skechers has announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire its existing Scandinavian distributor, Sports Connection Holding Aps.

The Sports Connection business comprises 58 existing Skechers retail locations, several e-commerce solutions as well as over 1,600 wholesale customers.

It will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Skechers, primarily responsible for “driving the brand’s continued growth” in the Nordic countries of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Sports Connection was founded in 1994 and has been Skechers’ exclusive distributor in the Nordics since 2005.
Peter Jørgensen, CEO of Sports Connection will now serve as country manager for Skechers in all Nordic countries.

Skechers said that it will continue to conduct business at the former Sports Connection offices and showrooms in Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark where its Nordic headquarters are located in Esbjerg.

David Weinberg, chief operating officer of Skechers USA, said: “With the planned acquisition of our long-serving and successful distributor in Scandinavia, we are welcoming the Sports Connection team more closely into the Skechers family. We are looking forward to further broadening our reach in Europe by combining the team’s local expertise with our worldwide capabilities and financial resources.”

Jørgensen added: “We have a long history of partnership with Skechers.We are proud of the progress we have made growing the Skechers brand as a distributor partner.

“We have built the infrastructure to support our vast direct-to-consumer and wholesale presence across the Nordics, and this new structure will allow us to leverage our efforts for additional growth in the future. We innately understand how the brand delivers its dynamic collection of styles and signature comfort technologies for every age and activity.”