JD Sports announces South Korean venture

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Sep 15, 2017

JD Sports is expanding into South Korea by acquiring a 15% stake in a footwear chain, shrugging off the geopolitical tension in the region following North Korea’s recent missile launches.

JD Sports announced on Friday it has entered into a joint venture agreement with a South Korean footwear retailer Shoemarker Inc, owner of a multi-branded fascia called Hot-T.

The British company paid £5.5 million for the stake, and has the option to acquire a further 35% of the business when the South Korean company files its accounts at the end of the year.

JD Sports plans to rebrand Hot-T’s 23 stores and website as JD, but the business will continue to be operationally run by its existing management team.

The chain is a multi-branded footwear retailer in the athletic specialty sector, and generated KRW 25.5 billion (£17.2 million) in revenue in the year to 31 of December, with a store EBITDA of approximately £2.0 million.