JD Sports on the prowl for acquisitions after raising £464m

JD Sports Fashion is on the hunt for new acquisitions after raising £464.2m on Thursday in a share placing to finance expansion and acquisitions.

The UK-based sportswear and clothing retailer on Thursday said 58.4m new shares were placed at 795 pence each, about 6% of its share capital.

It has been pursuing an aggressive expansion strategy in the US, and this week bought east coast sportswear retailer DTLR Villa for $495m. That followed the $325m purchase of Shoe Palace last month.

The placing price represented a discount of around 2.5% to the mid-market closing price of 815p on February 3.

JD Sports said that in addition to the placing proceeds, it had £700m of debt facilities. It also had £1bn in cash before the DTLR deal.

“The directors of the group believe there are a number of potentially attractive acquisition opportunities that will become available in due course and which will continue to support the group’s successful global expansion strategy,” JD said on Thursday.