Reebok International Ltd., in order to comply with its obligation to provide notice of the proposed effective date of a merger under the terms of certain debt facilities, has filed with the respective trustee of each facility that the merger of the company with adidas-Salomon AG could close as early as January 31, 2006.
The closing of the Merger is subject to conditions that have not yet been satisfied, including receipt of necessary antitrust approvals from the European Union and approval of the Reebok shareholders, and the Merger will not close unless and until all such closing conditions have been satisfied or waived. Reebok shareholders vote on the deal on January 25.
As Sports Executive Weekly reported last week, adidas global marketing chief Erich Stamminger, who has also been serving the last two years as interim chief of the adidas brands North America unit, has been named president and CEO of brand adidas. Herbert Hainer, chief executive officer of adidas-Salomon AG, will remain CEO of the corporation, with the brand CEOs reporting to him.
Paul Harrington, currently Reeboks SVP of international operations and chief supply chain officer, will replace Paul Fireman, Reeboks chairman, president and CEO, and serve as president and CEO of the Reebok brand, reporting to Hainer after the deal closes. Fireman had planned to depart once the acquisition was completed.
adidas-Salomon and Reebok International Ltd. entered into a definitive agreement that will see adidas-Salomon acquire all outstanding RBK shares for $59.00 per share in cash, a deal valued at roughly 3.1 billion ($3.8 bn).
