Amer Sports

History

The company was formed in 1950 in Finland as Amer Tobacco to manufacture and distribute tobacco and acquired the right to sell Philip Morris cigarettes in 1961. In the 1960s and 1970s, it expanded into an industrial conglomerate with interests in shipping, publishing, textiles, and plastics. It went public in 1977 on the Helsinki Stock Exchange and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1984. Its growth was made possible through several acquisitions and, in 1984, it acquired Korpivaara, Finland's oldest and largest automobile importer

In 1986, Amer established a sports division by acquiring a major share in Jack Nicklaus' MacGregor Golf Company (Hoover’s) and in 1989 it bought Wilson Sporting Goods. It was in the 1990s that Amer's identity as a major manufacturer of sporting goods began to emerge. In late 1994, the company acquired Atomic, a maker of winter sports equipment. During that time, it was divesting its nonsports-related businesses and undertaking a restructuring plan that focused on introducing innovative sporting products and enhancing operations.

In 1999, it acquired Suunto, a maker of diving instruments and, in the 2000s, it continued purchasing sporting goods manufactures and integrating brands. It also continued to divest its other businesses and in 2004 left the tobacco industry, even though it had 75% of Finland's tobacco market, in order to focus on Sports. The company changed its name to Amer Sports Corporation in 2005 to reflect its strong sports equipment brand portfolio. In that same year it bought Salomon from Adidas for €485 million and, in 2011, it acquired Nikita, an Action Sports company targeting women, to further diversify its portfolio.

Industry

Amer Sports, in its Annual Review, identifies itself as belonging to the Sporting Goods industry. Companies in this industry manufacture sporting and athletic goods including sports and fitness equipment.

The sporting goods industry is highly competitive and...