Sportmaster, one of Russia’s largest and most successful retailers, is ready to expand into the European market, the Kommersant business daily reported.
The sports clothing and accessories company, which has outlets in Russia, China and other countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States, is in negotiations to acquire the Polish subsidiary of France’s Go Sport Group, and has plans to expand into Germany and France.
Sportmaster’s revenues grew by 20.3% in 2018 to 111 billion rubles ($1.7 billion), according to market research group ‘Infoline-Analytics’, cited in Kommersant. Infoline’s director estimates the cost of purchasing Go Sport Poland at €40 million ($44.6 million).
Ekaterina Braginskaya, the northern Europe and Russia retail manager of Boardriders, which owns Quiksilver, Roxy, Billabong, Element, RVCA and DC shoes, told Kommersant that Sportmaster’s main European competitor would be the French sports retailer Decathlon.
“Of course, they will find their niche, but it’s likely that their expansion won’t be on the same scale as it is in Russia,” Braginskaya said.
This story was updated on Aug. 16 to correct Braginskaya's job title.
