On February 1, AmerSports, a subsidiary of Anta (02020), officially listed on the New York Stock Exchange with the stock code "AS". AmerSports became one of the first large-scale IPOs in 2024.Three existing investors, Anta, Anamed Investments and Tencent (00700), have agreed to purchase the company's shares at the issue price. The documents show that Anta and Anamed will buy up to US$220 million in shares, and Tencent will buy up to US$70 million in shares. Anamered is the investment company of Chip Wilson, founder of yoga apparel retailer Lululemon Athletica (LULU.US).


This is the largest IPO in the United States since the listing wave led by chip design company Arm (ARM.US) in September 2023.

AmerSports (AS.US) closed up 3.08% on its first day of listing at $13.4, with a market value of $6.492 billion.

AmerSports, founded in 1950, is a Finnish sporting goods company headquartered in Helsinki, Finland. It owns multiple high-end brands such as Arc’teryx, Salomon, and Wilson, covering multiple sports fields such as outdoor, skiing, tennis, and golf. Its products are sold to more than 100 countries and has more than 10,000 employees worldwide.

The prospectus shows that in 2019, a consortium jointly established by Anta Sports, FountainVest SPV, Anamed Investments and Tencent SPV made a cash acquisition offer to acquire all issued shares of Amer Sports, with a total purchase price of approximately 4.6 billion euros. It is worth mentioning that Anamed Investments is an investment company founded by Chip Wilson, the founder of Canadian yoga sports brand lululemon.

The acquisition offer was reached in March 2019. Anta Sports, together with other consortium members, owns the entire issued share capital of AmerSports through AS Holding. After the transaction is completed, Anta Sports holds 58% of the shares, FountainVestSPV and Anamed Investments each hold 21%, and Tencent participates through FountainVestSPV.

According to the prospectus, these four institutional investors currently hold more than 5% of the shares. This is the company's return to the capital market since it was acquired by China's Anta Sports in 2019 and delisted from Nasdaq Helsinki.

In 2019, AmerSports reorganized and simplified the company structure, and the brands in the three core segments transformed into a direct operation model. After the acquisition was completed, revenue growth accelerated, with a compound annual growth rate of 20.4% from 2020 to 2022, and gross profit margin expanded from 47.0% to 49.7% during the same period.

By region, as of the first nine months of 2023, 40% of the company's revenue comes from the Americas, 33% from Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 8% from Asia Pacific (excluding Greater China), and 19% from Greater China.

According to the prospectus, from 2020 to 2022, AmerSports' revenue in Greater China increased from US$202 million to US$524 million at a compound annual growth rate of 60.9%, and its revenue proportion increased from 8.3%. rose to 14.8%; in the first three quarters of 2023, revenue in Greater China surged 67.6% year-on-year to US$593 million, exceeding the revenue scale in Greater China for the whole of 2022, and the revenue proportion further increased to 19.4%.

Since 2018, AmerSports' capabilities in Greater China have continued to expand, with AmerSports' total headcount in the region growing from approximately 450 to 800 as of September 30, 2023.

Judging from the brand's penetration in Greater China, as of the first nine months of 2023, AmerSports has 63 Arc'teryx retail stores, 30 Salomon-owned retail stores and 67 distribution points (including self-owned retail stores and partner stores) in Greater China, a multiple increase from 13 in 2019.

The prospectus shows that the total revenue of Arc'teryx, Salomon and Wilson has exceeded 90% in the first three quarters of 2023, of which the revenue proportions of Arc'teryx, Salomon and Wilson are 30.8%, 31.1% and 28.4% respectively.

Arc'teryx is AmerSports' most well-known brand in China. In the first three quarters of 2023, Arc'teryx's revenue surged 61.8% year-on-year to US$941 million, of which Greater China contributed 48% of revenue, making it the well-deserved largest market. In addition, Arc'teryx's loyalty program has more than 1.7 million members in Greater China, compared with only 14,000 members in 2018.

From 2020 to 2022, the company's revenue increased from US$2.4 billion to US$3.5 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 20.4%; gross profit margin increased from 47.0% to 49.7%; net loss increased from US$237 million to US$252 million; adjusted EBITDA increased from US$311 million to US$453 million, with a compound annual growth rate of 20.6%.

In the first three quarters of 2023, AmerSports' revenue increased by 29.9% year-on-year to US$3.053 billion; gross profit margin increased from 49.4% in the same period in 2022 to 52.2%; net profit loss was US$114 million, a year-on-year increase of 9.1%; adjusted EBITDA increased by 61.3% from US$262 million in the same period in 2022 to US$422 million.

The prospectus shows that most of AmerSports' book "losses" come from valuation losses caused by the company's divestment of other sub-brands. Since 2018, AmerSports has begun its transformation, focusing on its core brands and streamlining its product portfolio. From 2019 to 2022, the company's divested brands include Mavic, Suunto and Precor.

In July 2019, AmerSports completed the divestiture and sale of its French cycling brand Mavic; in December 2020, AmerSports sold its fitness equipment company Precor for US$200 million, and the buyer was the leading American smart fitness company Peloton; in January 2022, AmerSports sold its Finnish diving computer and tool and sports watch brand Suunto to the Chinese wearable technology company Liesheng.

The prospectus shows that AmerSports intends to use the net proceeds from this offering to repay all outstanding borrowings under existing shareholder loans.

Listing AmerSports in the United States can increase its brand exposure and reputation, increase its competitiveness and attractiveness in the global market, and obtain more financial support and flexibility.

In addition, this is also an important step for ANTA Sports to realize its internationalization strategy. As the largest shareholder of AmerSports, ANTA Sports will receive more capital returns and brand reputation with the listing of AmerSports, achieving strategic synergy.

Comprehensive|Prospectus New York Stock Exchange Editor|Arti