Amer Sports Oyj is a
Finnish
Finnish may refer to:
* Something or someone from, or related to Finland
* Culture of Finland
* Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland
* Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people
* Finnish cuisine
See also ...
sporting goods retailer and
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
overseeing equipment brands
Salomon,
Arc'teryx, Peak Performance,
Atomic,
Suunto,
Wilson
Wilson may refer to:
People
*Wilson (name)
** List of people with given name Wilson
** List of people with surname Wilson
* Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender
* Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson R ...
,
Armada, ENVE Composites,
Louisville Slugger
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
,
DeMarini, and
Sports Tracker.
[Brands](_blank)
on AmerSports website, 3 Oct 2019 It is a subsidiary of Chinese parent company
Anta Sports
Anta Sports Products Limited is a Chinese sports equipment multinational corporation headquartered in Jinjiang. It is the world's largest purely sports equipment company by revenue and third-largest manufacturer of sporting goods overall, behind ...
.
Established in 1950 as an industrial
conglomerate
Conglomerate or conglomeration may refer to:
* Conglomerate (company)
* Conglomerate (geology)
* Conglomerate (mathematics)
In popular culture:
* The Conglomerate (American group), a production crew and musical group founded by Busta Rhymes
** ...
with interests as diverse as tobacco trading, ship owning and publishing, Amer has gradually evolved into a
multinational firm devoted to the production and marketing of sporting goods. The company employs over 8,000 people.
History
Industrial past
The company began life as a
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
manufacturer and distributor, Amer-Tupakka, in 1950
(later to be renamed Amer-Yhtymä Oyj followed by its current designation) and acquired the right to produce and sell
Philip Morris Phil(l)ip or Phil Morris may refer to:
Companies
*Altria, a conglomerate company previously known as Philip Morris Companies Inc., named after the tobacconist
**Philip Morris USA, a tobacco company wholly owned by Altria Group
** Philip Morris Inte ...
cigarettes in Finland in 1961.
In the 1960s, the significant profits from the company's tobacco interests were invested in three commercial ships.
A
publishing
Publishing is the activity of making information, literature, music, software and other content available to the public for sale or for free. Traditionally, the term refers to the creation and distribution of printed works, such as books, newsp ...
and
printing
Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...
division was added in 1970 with the purchase of the Finnish company Weilin+Göös, and the company listed on the
Helsinki Stock Exchange
The Nasdaq Helsinki, formerly known as the Helsinki Stock Exchange ( fi, Helsingin Pörssi, sv, Helsingforsbörsen), is a stock exchange located in Helsinki, Finland. Since 3 September 2003, it has been part of Nasdaq Nordic (previously called ...
in 1977, four years after changing its name to Amer-Yhtymä ( en, Amer Group).
In the 1980s, Amer moved into the vehicle import industry by acquiring the firm Korpivaara, and with it the exclusive rights to import and distribute such brands as
Citroën
Citroën () is a French automobile brand. The "Automobiles Citroën" manufacturing company was founded in March 1919 by André Citroën. Citroën is owned by Stellantis since 2021 and previously was part of the PSA Group after Peugeot acquired 8 ...
and
Toyota
is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...
.
The decade also saw the company expand into the textiles and plastics markets.
Focus on sport
In 1986, Amer established a sports division after acquiring a majority stake in the golf equipment maker
MacGregor Golf
MacGregor Golf is a sports equipment manufacturing company based in Albany, Georgia, which specializes in golf. MacGregor currently produces a wide range of golf clubs, bags, and accessories.
The company roots can be traced to 1829, with the est ...
from
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest golfers of all time. He won 117 professional tou ...
. Despite this, the company was involved in the sports equipment market as early as 1974, when it bought the ice hockey gear maker then known as
Koho-Tuote.
These interests were sold in 1986. Three years later, Amer acquired the
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
, image_map =
, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
, coordinates_footnotes =
, subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...
-based
Wilson Sporting Goods
The Wilson Sporting Goods Company is an American sports equipment manufacturer based in Chicago, Illinois. The company has been a subsidiary of Finnish multinational company Amer Sports since 1989, and is, in turn, now under the Chinese Anta Spor ...
Company, a leading producer of golf clubs, racquets and other sporting equipment, marking a major change in strategy for the company. Further acquisitions followed in the shape of the Austrian ski manufacturer Atomic in 1994
and the Finnish sports instrument maker Suunto in 1999. The American baseball and softball bat firm
Demarini was purchased a year later, falling under the Wilson division. During this time, many of the business areas no longer deemed to be
core
Core or cores may refer to:
Science and technology
* Core (anatomy), everything except the appendages
* Core (manufacturing), used in casting and molding
* Core (optical fiber), the signal-carrying portion of an optical fiber
* Core, the centra ...
were
divested, although the company retained its tobacco business until 2004 when it was sold back to Philip Morris. In 2005, Amer acquired the outdoor sports company Salomon from
Adidas
Adidas AG (; stylized as adidas since 1949) is a German multinational corporation, founded and headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, that designs and manufactures shoes, clothing and accessories. It is the largest sportswear manufacture ...
for €485 million. In the same year, the company officially changed its name to Amer Sports Corporation. In 2019, Amer completed its divestment of
Mavic.
In December 2020, Amer Sport sold Precor to the American
exercise equipment
Exercise equipment is any apparatus or device used during physical activity to enhance the strength or conditioning effects of that exercise by providing either fixed or adjustable amounts of resistance, or to otherwise enhance the experience or ...
manufacturer
Peloton
In a road bicycle race, the peloton (from French, originally meaning 'platoon') is the main group or pack of riders. Riders in a group save energy by riding close ( drafting or slipstreaming) to (particularly behind) other riders. The reducti ...
.
Ownership
The company shares were listed on the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange. On December 7, 2018, Amer Sports announced buyout negotiations with a consortium led by
Anta Sports
Anta Sports Products Limited is a Chinese sports equipment multinational corporation headquartered in Jinjiang. It is the world's largest purely sports equipment company by revenue and third-largest manufacturer of sporting goods overall, behind ...
.
The buyout was completed in 2019.
Operations
Amer divides its operations into four business units:
winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultur ...
, outdoor sports,
ball sports
This is a list of ball games and ball sports that include a ball as a key element in the activity, usually for scoring points.
Ball games
Ball sports fall within many sport categories, some sports within multiple categories, including:
*Bat-and- ...
(
Wilson
Wilson may refer to:
People
*Wilson (name)
** List of people with given name Wilson
** List of people with surname Wilson
* Wilson (footballer, 1927–1998), Brazilian manager and defender
* Wilson (footballer, born 1984), full name Wilson R ...
,
Louisville Slugger
Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...
, and
DeMarini).
The winter and outdoor sports business segment is the largest, contributing 60% of Amer Sports' net sales in 2013. The winter and outdoor sports group includes
Salomon,
Atomic,
Suunto, Peak Performance,
Arc'teryx,
Armada, Enve, and Sports Tracker.
[
The company's global ]headquarters
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...
are located in Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, Finland
Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bot ...
, with manufacturing and sales locations worldwide. In 2007, Amer Sports' North American headquarters were moved from Portland, Oregon
Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers, Portland is the county seat of Multnomah County, the most populous ...
to the historic American Can Company of Utah Building Complex
The American Can Company of Utah Building Complex, now known as the AmeriCan Center, is a historic industrial site located in Ogden City, Utah. It was built in 1914 by the American Can Company. By the late 1940s, the plant employed 450 people and ...
in Ogden, Utah.
On December 7, 2018, Amer Sports announced a buyout offer by a consortium led by Anta Sports
Anta Sports Products Limited is a Chinese sports equipment multinational corporation headquartered in Jinjiang. It is the world's largest purely sports equipment company by revenue and third-largest manufacturer of sporting goods overall, behind ...
of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
. Amer's shares were valued at €4.6 billion, 40% over their average market value. Under the terms of the offer, Amer Sports will remain a separate business entity with no immediate changes in management or workforce, while Anta Sports shall provide R&D and production resources required for expansion on the Chinese market.[
]
See also
* List of Finnish companies
* List of outdoor industry parent companies
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Manufacturing companies based in Helsinki
Sporting goods manufacturers of Finland
Manufacturing companies established in 1950
Multinational companies headquartered in Finland
Finnish companies established in 1950
2019 mergers and acquisitions
Exercise equipment companies