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FRANKFURT, Germany — The owner of Puma SE has explored a sale of the German sportswear maker as efforts to revive the brand drag into a fifth year, according to people familiar with the matter.
Kering SA, which also owns Gucci, contacted potential buyers earlier this year to gauge interest, said the people, who asked not to be identified because talks are private. Sovereign- wealth funds from the Middle East such as Qatar as well as Asian investors were approached, they said.
The discussions have yet to lead to any sort of takeover proposal and it remains unclear whether the company will still pursue a sale of the brand, the people said. Representatives for Kering, Puma and Qatar declined to comment.
Kering owns about 86 percent of Puma, having acquired control of the sporting-goods maker in 2007. Puma, which has a market valuation of about 2.5 billion euros ($3.1 billion) based on the remaining traded shares, is revamping athletic shoes and stepping up marketing as it seeks to reorient the company’s positioning around performance gear.
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Kering is also making changes at Gucci, where the top two executives are stepping down amid faltering growth.
In April, Kering Chairman Francois-Henri Pinault said he was convinced the company should have a sports and lifestyle division that wouldn’t be expanded until he’d revived Puma.
Mario Ortelli, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, is skeptical about Kering owning a maker of sporting products, which have much lower margins than luxury goods. Competitors such as Adidas AG and Nike Inc. are much bigger than Puma, meaning they can spend more on marketing and developing their products, he has said.
Puma, known for its leaping cat logo, this fall unveiled its “Forever Faster” ad campaign, featuring athletes such as sprinter Usain Bolt and soccer player Mario Balotelli, helping boost footwear sales for the first time in seven quarters.
The brand’s ad budget and sponsorship deals, including with English Premier League team Arsenal, are cutting into profit, which in 2014 may be less than half what it was a decade ago, according to analyst estimates.
By Aaron Kirchfeld, Dinesh Nair, Ruth David; with assistance from Andrew Roberts, Manuel Baigorri, Aaron Ricadela. Editors: Celeste Perri, Paul Jarvis.
