BSN Sports announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire substantially all of the assets of the Eastbay Team Sales business from Foot Locker Retail, Inc., a subsidiary of Foot Locker, Inc.
Founded in 1980 and originally established to meet the performance needs of local high school and college athletes in Central Wisconsin, Eastbay Team Sales is now a major supplier of athletic footwear, apparel and sports equipment to high school and college athletes. Foot Locker, Inc. acquired Eastbay Team Sales through its acquisition of Eastbay in 1997 to integrate an additional channel of distribution for athletic footwear, apparel, and equipment.
Terry Babilla, President of BSN Sports, said, “We are excited that the employees of Eastbay Team Sales will be joining the BSN Sports family, which is dedicated exclusively to serving athletes, athletic directors and coaches who impact more lives in a year than most people do in a lifetime. This dedicated approach means that our new Sales Professionals will benefit from the best and broadest inventory selection, leading design and customization tools and support resources as they deliver the stellar service experience all customers deserve. We welcome the Eastbay Team employees to the BSN Sports family and look forward to a productive and rewarding integration of our teams headed into the 2022-2023 school year.”
Varsity Brands, BSN Sports’ parent company, is a portfolio company of Bain Capital Private Equity.
In a separate statement, Foot Locker said the divestiture of its team sales business will enable the company to focus on its core consumer on business.
“We are very pleased for the Team Sales business to become part of BSN Sports,” said Richard Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer. “For more than three decades, the Team Sales business has connected directly with high school coaches and athletic directors across the U.S. to offer the best performance product and a premium service level, and we are confident that the business and its experienced team of professionals have a promising future as part of the BSN Sports organization.”
The Team Sales business has historically accounted for less than one percent of Foot Locker’s annual consolidated sales. The transaction is expected to close in the coming weeks and terms were not disclosed.
Foot Locker also announced it will fully consolidate the Eastbay.com retail website into the Champs Sports banner, completing the integration of those two banners that began in 2019.
Evercore is serving as the financial advisor and Morrison Cohen LLP as legal counsel to Foot Locker.
Photo courtesy Eastbay
