Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy struggling shoe chain Foot Locker for $2.4 billion

Dick s Sporting Goods is buying the struggling footwear chain Foot Locker for about billion the second buyout of a major footwear company in as several weeks as business leaders struggle with uncertainty over how U S President Donald Trump s tariffs will impact companies that make multiple of their products overseas Dick s stated Thursday that it expects to run Foot Locker as a standalone unit and keep the Foot Locker brands which include Kids Foot Locker Champs Sports WSS and Japanese sneaker brand atmos Sports and sports way of life continue to be incredibly powerful and with this acquisition we ll create a new global platform that serves those ever evolving demands through iconic concepts consumers know and love enhanced store designs and omnichannel experiences as well as a product mix that appeals to our different customer bases Dick s CEO Lauren Hobart commented in a announcement Skechers communicated that it was being taken private earlier this month by the stake firm by G Capital in a transaction worth more than billion Foot Locker shareholders can choose to receive either in cash or shares of Dick s common stock for each Foot Locker share that they own The footwear industry has been growing increasingly concerned over Trump s exchange war with other countries particularly China Athletic shoe makers have invested heavily in production in Asia Shares of sporting goods and athletic shoe companies have been under pressure all year About of the clothes and shoes purchased in the U S are imported predominantly from Asia according to the American Apparel Footwear Association Using factories overseas has kept labor costs down for U S companies but neither they nor their overseas suppliers are likely to absorb price increases due to new tariffs Foot Locker offers Dick s a lot of likely namely its huge real estate footprint and would give the Pittsburgh company its first foothold overseas Foot Locker has about retail stores across countries in North America Europe Asia Australia and New Zealand It also has a licensed store presence in Europe the Middle East and Asia The company had global sales of billion last year Dick s announced that it anticipates closing on the Foot Locker deal in the second half of the year The transaction still demands approval from Foot Locker shareholders Dick s stock dropped more than before the sector open while shares of Foot Locker surged more than