French retailing and luxury goods giant PPR has pounced on German sportswear firm Puma, famous for its leaping cat logo, offering €5.3 billion to bring it into its brand stable alongside Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent.
The €330-a-share bid was welcomed by Puma management yesterday and caused shares to rise 10 per cent to €339.85 on speculation that a bidding war was looming for the world number three sportswear firm.
"Puma integrates perfectly into the group and has good development potential in a market with high entry barriers," said François-Henri Pinault, PPR's chief executive.
The Puma story is part of German business folklore, beginning with the brothers Rudolf and Adolf Dassler, who founded a shoe business in the tiny Bavarian town of Herzogenaurach in 1924.
When they fell out after the second World War in unclear circumstances, Adolf (Adi) split with his brother to set up Adidas, while Rudolf (Rudi) founded Puma.
The companies remained arch rivals over the years, a rivalry which continues to the present day: both firms are still based in Herzogenaurach and, as its largest employers, have divided the town into two factions.
Puma employees on their lunch break yesterday shrugged off the takeover rumours.
"There was a big fuss a few years ago over a possible Nike takeover and what came of that?" said one employee. Another commented: "I don't care who owns the company once it stays here in town and keeps its name."
Puma staved off bankruptcy in the mid-1990s when chief executive Jochen Zeitz merged the fashion and sportswear divisions and hired designers Jil Sander and Philippe Starck to create product lines for one of the best-known lifestyle brands in the world, returning profits of €263 million last year on turnover of €2.4 billion.
Puma went public 21 years ago and the largest shareholder in the company was the Mayfair group, owned by Günter and Daniela Herz, founders of coffee retailer Tchibo. It was the sale of its 25 per cent stake to PPR which prompted the takeover bid.
Puma would be a prized bauble for the French group, which was founded in 1963 by French billionaire François Pinault.
Today, the group owns the Printemps department stores, the Fnac book and music retailer and other fashion interests, including the Stella McCartney label.
PPR employs 78,000 people in 75 countries and generated a profit of €685 million last year on turnover of €18 billion.
