S&P Global Ratings affirmed the ‘BBB-‘ long-term issuer credit rating on Amer Sports following the repayment of $720 million in senior secured notes.
S&P noted that on March 3, Amer Sports Inc. announced the pricing of its public offering of ordinary shares for a total amount of $750 million. Net cash proceeds and cash on balance sheet were used to fully repay outstanding $720 million senior secured notes (SSNs) due in 2031, plus price premium and accrued interest.
The early debt repayment of SSNs does not represent a change in the group’s financial policy, but it was executed in the context of the group’s liability management with the repayment of nondeducible debt. S&P said it understands that Amer Sports is maintaining its longstanding maximum net leverage target of 1.5x (according to company’s calculation).
S&P said, “While the balance sheet is currently in a significantly stronger position compared with its maximum net leverage target, we understand the company may opportunistically relever in the future. The company has sound rating headroom and financial flexibility with large balance sheet capacity.”
Beyond affirming its ‘BBB-‘ long-term issuer credit rating on Amer Sports, S&P withdrew its issuer ratings on the fully-repaid SSNs.
The stable outlook indicates S&P’s view that Amer Sports will maintain a strong operating performance, with adjusted debt to EBITDA comfortably below 1.5x over 2026 and 2027, in line with its financial policy with a public target net debt to EBITDA of 1.5x or lower (group adjusted) through continued EBITDA expansion.
S&P said in its analysis, “Over next 18-24 months, we expect Amer Sports to maintain an S&P Global Ratings-adjusted leverage comfortably below 1.5x in line with its recent track record. Amer Sports successfully executed previously communicated plan to optimize its capital structure and used the proceeds from the recent $750 million primary follow-on equity offering to redeem the remaining $720 million SSNs on March 16, 2026. The paydown of the SSNs does not reflect a shift in management’s financial policy but rather management’s previously stated commitment to pay down the nondeductible debt. While the balance sheet is currently in a stronger position, we consider that the group may opportunistically relever in the future, with a stated policy of keeping net leverage at or below 1.5x (company’s calculation). We expect the group to generate S&P Global Ratings-adjusted free operating cash flow (FOCF) after leases of about $120 million-$130 million in 2026 ($35 million in 2025), broadly in line with our previous expectations. This reflects lower interest expenses and higher profitability, offsetting working capital outflows related to seasonal fluctuations. We anticipate that the group will reinvest cash into the business through elevated capital expenditure (capex) of about $550 million to support new store openings, expansion in emerging markets, and investments in supply chain infrastructure and digital capabilities. As such, we estimate that the group’s rating headroom should strengthen, with S&P Global Ratings-adjusted leverage of about 0.4x in 2026, down from 1.1x in 2025.
“We anticipate that the broad-based growth across product lines and geographies will underpin Amer Sports’ business momentum in 2025 to persist in 2026 and 2027. The group posted revenue of $6.6 billion in 2025 (up 21 percent year on year on organic basis), higher than our expectation of about $6.3 billion. The increase stemmed from volume growth across the Technical Apparel and Outdoor Performance segments, and strong momentum across the group’s premium brand portfolio across all regions. Profitability metrics improved significantly with S&P Global Ratings-adjusted EBITDA improving to 16.8 percent (up from 14.5 percent in 2024) reflecting strong gross margin expansion driven by segment and product mix. That said, we expect reported revenue in 2026 to increase by about 12 percent-14 percent to $7.3 billion-$7.5 billion. Strong brand performance, positive pricing, and innovative product launches should drive growth, complemented by additional store openings and continued momentum from the Arc’teryx and Salomon brands. Direct-to-consumer sales should benefit from the expanded retail presence, enhanced e-commerce, and improved customer engagement. While strategic partner management should support wholesale growth at a moderate pace. Furthermore, robust demand for premium products should underpin growth in the Asia-Pacific region (including Greater China) and the U.S. We forecast S&P Global Ratings-adjusted EBITDA margins to moderately expand, approaching about 17.0 percent in 2026, reflecting disciplined cost control, higher operating leverage, and a favorable mix toward premium brands and volume-driving categories, with the group’s resilient supply chain supporting operating stability.
“We include a one-notch uplift in our ‘BBB-‘ long-term issuer credit rating on Amer Sports to reflect support from its controlling shareholder, ANTA Sports. We assess Amer Sports as moderately strategic for ANTA Sports, which remains the controlling shareholder with an approximate 42 percent equity stake as of Feb. 20, 2026. Amer Sports benefits from a master business services agreement with ANTA, under which IT support, e-commerce operations, and management services are provided. Governance arrangements allow ANTA to nominate five of the 11 board members, including the chairman, as long as it holds at least 30 percent of Amer Sports’ shares. In addition, the companies coordinate on procurement, logistics, and back-office operations, reflecting ongoing operational integration. These ownership, governance, and operational links support our expectation that Amer Sports could receive extraordinary support from ANTA under certain foreseeable stress scenarios. Looking forward, ANTA’s continued commitment to global brand expansion and portfolio optimization reinforces the strategic rationale for its backing of Amer Sports.
“The stable outlook indicates our view that Amer Sports will maintain a strong operating performance, with adjusted debt to EBITDA below 1.5x over 2026 and 2027, in line with its financial policy with a public target net debt to EBITDA of 1.5x or lower (group adjusted) through continued EBITDA expansion.”
