The british JD Sports Fashion Plc acquired Cosmos Sport of the Tsiknakis family without having announced the amount of the acquisition. Specifically, JD acquired 30% of EOS Capital Partners‘ stake in Cosmos Sports and will reach 80% with the Tsiknakis family maintaining a 20% minority stake.
Cosmos Sport was founded in 1982 by F. Tsiknakis, starting from a store in Hersonissos, Crete and currently operates 61 stores in Greece and Cyprus under 4 omnichannel retail brands (Cosmos Sport, Sneaker10, Slamdunk, Sportsfactory) with an important growth path in recent years. The focus of its activity is the combination of leading product collections, separate stores, leading eCommerce and innovative omnichannel services.
JD Sports Fashion is a global sports and athleizure retailer with sales of 6 billion pounds in 2020, it is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a member of the FTSE 100 index. It belongs to the British group Pentland which also has brands Speedo, Ellesse and Mitre among others.
EOS Capital Partners invested in Cosmos in December 2019, when the Company had 43 points of sale – 39 physical stores and 4 e-shops, while sales in 2019 amounted to 47.5 million euros of which about 40% was realized through the e-shop. The fundings of EOS were used in order for the company to implement its development plan, which mainly included the expansion of the physical network of stores and the further strengthening of its electronic platform. Over the past two years, the company has achieved a very strong financial performance, almost doubling its sales, which was accompanied by very strong EBITDA operating profitability that almost tripled over the corresponding period.
“The inclusion of the Cosmos family in JD Fashion Plc is a proof that hard work, talent and values always lead to progress. Our company enters a new business page, in a new exciting journey based on the heritage of our values, our talented management team and all our 800 people in Greece and Cyprus.”, said the CEO of the company M. Tsiknakis.
“It’s another exciting strategic partnership for JD, further expanding our presence in Europe. We welcome Cosmos Sport’s experienced and capable management team to our Group and look forward to working together.”, stated Peter Cowgill, Executive Chairman of JD Sports Fashion Plc.
“Almost two years ago we decided to invest in Cosmos Sport, in retail and athleisure. We shared the same values, the same vision and the important prospects of the sector with the management team and the shareholders of the Company (the Tsiknakis family and Mr. N. Varvadoukas), investing in people, physical network, logistics, expansion abroad and of course in on the Company’s electronic platform. The results were spectacular both in the development of networks and organic profitability, as well as at a strategic and operational level, even in the difficult economic conditions of the pandemic.A key component of this success was mutual trust and respect between us. This success aroused the intense interest of one of the largest international retailers in the field, JD Sports.I am convinced that Cosmos Sport will continue to be distinguished under the guidance of the Tsiknakis family and the vast experience of JD Sports, its new main shareholder. We thank JD Sports and the Tsiknakis family for their trust and excellent cooperation.” commented Apostolos Tamvakakis, Founder and CEO of EOS Capital Partners.
