Amer Sports is acquiring Nikita ehf., an Icelandic snowboarding-inspired action sports apparel brand which focuses on female consumers, as announced on Friday. The annual net sales of Nikita are approximately EUR 8 million (ISK 1.3 billion, USD 10 million).
Archive photo by Páll Stefánsson.
Nikita is an Icelandic clothing brand, founded by its head designer Heiða Birgisdóttir and her friends in a tiny skate/streetwear store in Reykjavík ten years ago. Nikita offers apparel “For Girls Who Ride”.
Nikita’s headquarters and flagship store are based at Laugavegur in Reykjavík but the clothing is available in around 1,500 stores in 30 countries, and through some online dealers as well.
Nikita sales are mostly in Europe and distributed selectively also in North America and Asia. The acquisition of Nikita is in line with Amer Sports’ strategic priority to grow faster in soft-goods.
“Action Sports apparel is a large and dynamic market driven by young people who skate, surf and snowboard and the acquisition complements Amer Sports portfolio in Action Sports,” stated Andy Towne, President of Amer Sports Apparel.
“With Salomon snowboards, Bonfire apparel and now, Nikita, we have a great opportunity to expand our presence in Action Sports, bring a broader range of exciting, authentic products to market and reach new consumer groups,” Towne added.
“Amer Sports Apparel category will bring benefits to Nikita as we can leverage the scale of our brands in design, sourcing and in go-to-market activities”, Towne concluded.
Amer Sports is a sporting goods company with internationally recognized brands including Salomon, Wilson, Atomic, Arc’teryx, mavic, Precor and Suunto. Amer Sports shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki stock exchange.
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