JD Sports in Deal to Acquire Finish Line

British retailer JD Sports Fashion is to pay US$558 million to acquire America’s Finish Line, one of the country’s largest upmarket sportswear chains.

Finish Line, whose sales reached $1.84 billion in the year to March 3, is listed on the Nasdaq. It sells multi-brand apparel and accessories from 556 branded retail stores across 44 states and Puerto Rico, and online.

Besides its own stores, Finish Line sells athletic shoes through 375 branded and 188 unbranded concessions within Macy’s stores and on the company’s website.

JD Sports, which recently overtook UK rival Sports Direct as the nation’s largest sportswear retailer by market value, has previously expanded in to South Korea, Spain and France, with other Asian markets on the horizon. This is its first foray into the US market.

“This is a landmark day for JD and will be transformational for the business. It immediately offers a major presence in the US, a clear next step to further increase our global scale,” said executive chairman Peter Cowgill in a statement.