Sports Direct plans multi-million investment in Heatons

Sports Direct International said it plans to make a multi-million investment in the Heatons store portfolio, after it announced on Wednesday that it has entered into a sale and purchase agreement to buy the remaining stake it doesn’t already own in the company.

The sports retailer, which expects to complete the acquisition by April 2016, said it will make a substantial multi-million investment in the Heatons store portfolio over the first years of full ownership.

Chief executive Dave Forsey said: “With a couple of years of continuous investment and by allying the stores to our other Sports Retail operations, I think we will see this is an exceptional acquisition for our shareholders.

“The Republic of Ireland is the fastest growing economy in Europe, our closest neighbour, the only country with a land border with the UK and is a nation of sport fanatics. Our unique offering, when fully available, will be transformative. The Irish retail sector grew 9.3% last year with clothing and footwear growing at 12.8%, according to the Central Statistics Office, so it is a great place to be.”

On Wednesday, Sports Direct said it had struck a deal with Sandra Minor, a minority shareholder in Warrnambool, which is the holding company of Heatons, to buy the remaining 50% stake for €47.5m.

At 1530 BST, Sports Direct shares were down 0.8% at 737p.