JJB Sports said in a statement it has agreed to vote its 10.12% stake in Umbro in favor of Nike's £285 million ($564.8 million) bid for Umbro PLC.
JJB's non-executive chairman, Roger Lane-Smith, said: “We believe that accepting Nike's cash offer for Umbro is in the best interests of our shareholders.”
JJB's backing removes another hurdle to the deal and comes shortly after the U.K. Office of Fair Trade cleared the acquisition. The OFT on Jan. 16 said that although Nike and Umbro together have a 45% market share in replica soccer kits, this “overstates their rivalry”, because Nike's sales come from club kits and Umbro's from England shirts.
Mike Ashley, the founder of U.K.'s Sports Direct International and its executive deputy chairman built up a 30% stake in the business, but he also agreed to sell.
