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.

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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.