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Sept. 13 (NBD) -- Chinese sportswear company Anta Sports made an announcement Wednesday confirming its interest in Finland-based sporting goods manufacturer Amer Sports but claiming it is just non-binding preliminary indication of interest. 

Anta's stock tumbled 9.15 percent on the day, closing at HK$33.25 (4.2 U.S. dollars). 

Anta, together with Temasek Holdings-backed private equity fund FountainVest Partners, offers to buy Amer Sports at approximately 4.6 billion euros (5.4 billion U.S. dollars), about 40 euros (46.7 U.S. dollars) per share, according to the Finnish company's statement on Tuesday.

Founded in 1950, Amer Sports owns internationally recognized brands, including athlete-focused ski brand Armada, mountain sports brand Salomon, tennis racket brand Wilson, skiing equipment brand Atomic, and outdoor clothing and sporting good brand Arc'teryx. 

Anta and FountainVest's tender offer is subject to a number of conditions, including conducting a due diligence investigation, approval of Anta's Board of Directors and the Investment Committee of FountainVest, availability of financing from identified financing sources and receipt of a recommendation from the Board of Directors of Amer Sports.

Different from the purchase of Fila and Descente, Anta aims to acquire the entire share capital of Amer Sports, rather than just the operating rights in Greater China. 

Tang Xiaotang, an analyst with fashion watcher No Agency, told NBD that this marks a breakthrough of Anta's multi-brand approach, and a complete takeover means greater initiative. 

Previously, rumors had it that Anta would acquire German sportswear maker Puma to expand its portfolio and to catch up with big players such as Nike and Adidas, but Puma's recovery is gathering pace, which leads to a rise in acquisition price, Tang said. Not only so, Puma and Anta's business is largely overlapping. By contrast, Amer Sports is a better acquisition target due to its different range of business, Tang added. 

In the January-June period of 2018, Amer Sports generated around 1.1 billion euros (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) in net sales, down 5 percent year over year. Gross profit excluding items affecting comparability stood at 505.1 million euros (589.5 million U.S. dollars), a slight drop from a year ago. 

Regarding this, Tang explained the Finnish company made adjustments in business models in recent two years, but the acquisitions it carried out in the period didn't add glory to its performance due to the factor of valuable consideration. However, the company has built a strong presence in the high-end market and still has great market potential. 

Tang stressed Amer Sports' upscale ski brands and extreme sports brands will make a great addition to Anta's product mix. An expanded product line could help the Chinese sportswear company better cope with weak seasonality as well as possible economic downturn in the future. 

Footwear and clothes industry commentator Ma Gang, however, said to NBD that it presents a new challenge for Anta to produce synergy of multiple brands. This will require painstaking efforts to bring superiority of each brand into full play in operations and intensify coordination in supply, marketing, and retailing. Moreover, solid work needed to be done to integrate the supply chains, information systems, and distribution networks.

Email: lansuying@nbd.com.cn