Reebok may have a pair of high-profile entrepreneurs interested in purchasing the brand: Percy “Master P” Miller and Baron Davis.
Reports surfaced late Monday that the rap mogul and the former NBA star are in negotiations to acquire Reebok. “These companies have been benefiting off us, this could be history for this company going Black-owned,” Miller told ESPN.
The pair’s interest in acquiring Reebok was first reported by ESPN NBA reporter Eric Woodyard on Twitter.
According to a Forbes report today, the sale of Reebok could come with a $2.4 billion price tag.
Master P, founder of historic rap record label No Limit Records, has ample experience in the footwear industry. Most recently, the entrepreneur launched his luxury sneaker label MoneYatti last year. And almost 20 years ago, the music mogul created his P Miller Jump-Offs line of performance basketball shoes.
Shortly after the debut of MoneYatti, Miller publicly discussed the importance to both consumers and the footwear industry of a Black-owned shoe company. “As a businessman, my strategy is to look for a problem and then solve it. I thought to myself, ‘Why aren’t any of us creating this?'” Master P told Yahoo Finance in August 2019.
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As for Davis, the ties to Reebok are strong. The retired baller laced up shoes from the brand during his college days at UCLA, and Reebok was one of the brands he wore during his 13-season NBA career, which started in 1999.
“I think Reebok is being undervalued. I left Nike as a 22-year-old kid representing myself and made the jump to Reebok, which took a chance on me as a creative and as an athlete. I want the people I know athletes, influencers, designers, celebs to sit at the table with me,” Davis told Forbes in a report published today.
There has been speculation that Adidas AG was interested in moving on from Reebok since October, when a Bloomberg report stated the German sportswear powerhouse was interested in selling the heritage athletic brand, and that an internal review was in its early stages. Also, Germany’s Manager Magazin reported Adidas planned to complete the sale by March 2021 and that companies interested in acquiring Reebok included VF Corp. in the U.S. and China-based Anta International Group Holdings Ltd.
In November, a New York Times report stated Adidas was working with investment bank JPMorgan Chase & Co. to sell Reebok in a transaction that could happen as early as next year. In the report, the publication estimated that Reebok could sell for roughly $1 billion, which is far less than the $3.8 billion Adidas paid for the brand in 2005.
After months of chatter Adidas confirmed this month that it was looking into “strategic alternatives” for Reebok.
“As part of the development of its new five-year strategy, Adidas has begun to assess strategic alternatives for Reebok. These strategic alternatives include both a potential sale of Reebok as well as Reebok remaining a part of the company,” Adidas wrote in a Dec. 14 statement released from its headquarters in Herzogenaurach.
Adidas AG said a decision on Reebok is expected to be announced on March 10, 2021. This is the date when the German athletic firm will present its new five-year strategy.
