Adidas and Reebok: Is Acquiring Easier than Integrating?

Schmid, Stefan; Dauth, Tobias; Kotulla, Thomas; Leding, Philipp

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74089-8_2

Stefan Schmid⁶,
Tobias Dauth⁷,
Thomas Kotulla^6,8 &
…
Philipp Leding⁶

Part of the book series: MIR Series in International Business ((MIRSIB))

4526 Accesses
1 Citations

Abstract

At the beginning of 2006, one of the biggest takeovers in the sporting goods industry took place: the leading German sporting goods company Adidas acquired its U.S. competitor Reebok. Building on an analysis of the sporting goods industry and the characteristics of Adidas and Reebok, the present case study explores the complexities of the cross-border acquisition. It outlines not only the motives and risks associated with the acquisition but also some major consequences for Adidas’ and Reebok’s strategy, structure and culture. In particular, the case study examines the brand positioning of Adidas and Reebok before and after the acquisition as well as the related challenges. Furthermore, it analyses the integration of Reebok into the Adidas Group between 2007 and 2017, especially in the context of increasing levels of competition, such as competition by industry rivals Nike and Under Armour.

This case study is based on Schmid et al. (2011).

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Notes

1.
See Sporting Goods Intelligence (2006a, pp. 1–2, 2006b, pp. 1–4, 2006c, pp. 1–5).
2.
See Sporting Goods Manufacturers Association (2007, p. 1).
3.
See Steinkirchner (2005, pp. 51–52).
4.
See Devi and Ramya (2006, p. 3).
5.
See Carr (2005a, p. 14).
6.
See Adidas (2007a), Apple (2007) and Nike (2007).
7.
See Kang (2004, p. D5).
8.
See Khan (2006, p. 7) and Ryan (2003, pp. 34–35).
9.
See Khan (2006, p. 5), Sporting Goods Intelligence (2004, p. 1) and Steinkirchner (2005, p. 51).
10.
See Kletter and Poggi (2004, p. 9) and Steinkirchner (2005, pp. 50–51).
11.
See Mikkilineni (2005, p. 6).
12.
See Hainer (2005, p. 10).
13.
See Arnold and Hartman (2003, pp. 429–435).
14.
See Hinterberger and von Petersdorff (2005, p. 56) and Schmid and Kretschmer (2007, pp. 56–60).
15.
See Giersberg (2006, p. 18).
16.
See Adidas (2007b, p. 4).
17.
See Schneider and Reischauer (2006, p. 55).
18.
See Anonymous (2005a, p. 15).
19.
See Adidas (2007b, pp. 4–5).
20.
See Adidas (2007b, p. 4).
21.
See Devi and Ramya (2006, pp. 3–4).
22.
See Gäbelein (2006, p. 1).
23.
See Anonymous (2005a, p. 15) and Fischermann and Rohwetter (2005, p. 23).
24.
See Anonymous (2005b, p. 15) and Mikkilineni (2005, pp. 6–7).
25.
See Anonymous (2005a, p. 15) and Gäbelein (2006, pp. 1–2).
26.
See Brors (2006, p. 10).
27.
See Anonymous (2005a, p. 15).
28.
See Adidas-Salomon (2005, p. 18) and Hirn (2005, pp. 44–46).
29.
See Hirn (2003, p. 109).
30.
See Adidas (2007b, pp. 12–13).
31.
See Anonymous (1997, p. 24).
32.
See Hofer (2005a, p. 38).
33.
See Adidas-Salomon (2003, pp. 30–54).
34.
See Sporting Goods Intelligence (2007a, p. 1, 2007b, p. 1, 2007c, p. 1).
35.
See Hirn (2005, p. 40).
36.
See Adidas (2006).
37.
See Le Goff (2000, p. 40).
38.
See Anonymous (2005b, p. 15).
39.
See Anonymous (2005c).
40.
See Anonymous (2005b, p. 15).
41.
See Reebok (2005, p. 15, 2007a).
42.
See Anonymous (2005b, p. 15), Mikkilineni (2005, pp. 6–7) and Reebok (2007b).
43.
See Anonymous (2005b, p. 15).
44.
See Anonymous (2005c).
45.
See Anonymous (2005b, p. 15, 2005c), Hirn (2007, p. 80) and Mikkilineni (2005, p. 6).
46.
See Reebok (2005, p. 1).
47.
See Hirn (2007, pp. 80–84) and Sporting Goods Intelligence (2007a, p. 1, 2007c, p. 1).
48.
See Anonymous (2006a, p. 14) and Reebok (2006a, b, c).
49.
See Anonymous (2005a, p. 15) and Theurer (2005, p. 15).
50.
See Anonymous (2005a, p. 15) and Symonds and Gagnier (2005, p. 48).
51.
See Anonymous (2006b) and Cohen (2006).
52.
See Anonymous (2005d).
53.
See Hegmann (2006).
54.
See Balzer et al. (2006).
55.
See Brors (2006, p. 10) and Hirn (2007, p. 82).
56.
See Adidas (2007c, p. 43).
57.
See Adidas (2007c, p. 94) and Polo Ralph Lauren (2006, pp. 36–37).
58.
See Adidas (2007c).
59.
See Adidas (2007c).
60.
See Heeg and Meck (2005, p. 31).
61.
See Adidas (2007d), Brors (2006, p. 10) and Schneider and Reischauer (2006, p. 55).
62.
See Fasse (2007, p. 15).
63.
See Anonymous (2005e, p. 1) and Steinkirchner and Henry (2007, p. 75).
64.
See Anonymous (2005f, p. 48) and Thomaselli (2005, p. 5).
65.
See Anonymous (2005e, p. 1, 2005f, p. 48) and Heeg and Meck (2005, p. 31).
66.
See Anonymous (2005e, p. 1, 2005f, p. 48) and Heeg and Meck (2005, p. 31).
67.
See Brors (2006, p. 10), Hofer (2006, p. 15) and Norton and Holmes (2007, p. 18).
68.
See Heeg and Meck (2005, p. 31) and Steinkirchner (2005, p. 51).
69.
See Anonymous (2006c, p. 5) and Carr (2005b, p. 19).
70.
See Hofer (2006, p. 15) and Rygl et al. (2006, pp. 9–10).
71.
See Turner (2005, p. 23).
72.
See Anonymous (2005e, p. 1).
73.
See Anonymous (2006a, p. 14) and Lindner and Theurer (2006, p. 20).
74.
See Anonymous (2007a, p. 12).
75.
See Steinkirchner and Henry (2007, pp. 75–76).
76.
See Theurer (2006, p. 16).
77.
See Steinkirchner and Henry (2007, pp. 75–76).
78.
See Anonymous (2006d).
79.
See Goodison (2006, p. 29).
80.
See Anonymous (2005f, p. 48).
81.
See Anonymous (2005e, p. 1, 2005g, p. 14).
82.
See Rygl et al. (2006, p. 10).
83.
See Prasad (2005, p. 7).
84.
See Anonymous (2005a, p. 15).
85.
See Adidas (2007b, pp. 4–5) and Hirn (2005, p. 44).
86.
See Devi and Ramya (2006, pp. 3–4).
87.
See Anonymous (2005a, p. 15, 2005b, p. 15).
88.
See Sweney (2005, p. 10).
89.
See Anonymous (2005a, p. 15).
90.
See Adidas-Salomon (2005, p. 18) and Hirn (2005, pp. 44–46).
91.
See Adidas-Salomon (2005, p. 18).
92.
See Adidas-Salomon (2003, pp. 30–54).
93.
See Adidas (2006, p. 94).
94.
See Adidas-Salomon (2005, p. 18).
95.
See Anonymous (2006e) and Turner (2005, pp. 22–23).
96.
See Berner and Kiley (2005, pp. 90–94).
97.
See Anonymous (2005b, p. 15).
98.
See Anonymous (2005c) and Mikkilineni (2005, pp. 5–7).
99.
See Anonymous (2005b, p. 15, 2005c) and Hirn (2007, p. 80).
100.
See Fischermann and Rohwetter (2005, p. 23).
101.
See Balzer et al. (2006) and Steinkirchner and Henry (2007, pp. 75–76).
102.
See Steinkirchner and Henry (2007, pp. 75–76).
103.
See Kletter and Conti (2006, p. 9).
104.
See Steinkirchner and Henry (2007, p. 75).
105.
See Adidas (2006, p. 55).
106.
See Steinkirchner and Henry (2007, pp. 75–77).
107.
See Ozanian and Schwartz (2007).
108.
See Anonymous (2005h).
109.
See Heeg and Meck (2005, p. 31).
110.
See Hirn (2007, pp. 79–80).
111.
See Hirn (2007, pp. 79–80).
112.
See Adidas (2007c, pp. 52–54).
113.
See Hirn (2007, pp. 79–80).
114.
See Kramer (2007, p. 147) and Milne (2006a, p. 18).
115.
See Anonymous (2006f).
116.
See Hirn (2006).
117.
See Hirn (2007, pp. 79–80).
118.
See Adidas (2007c, p. 57).
119.
See Anonymous (2007b, p. 18) and Hirn (2007, pp. 79–80).
120.
See Steinkirchner (2006, p. 68).
121.
See Barrand (2006, p. 24).
122.
See Adidas (2007c, pp. 55–57) and Hirn (2007, pp. 79–80).
123.
See Kletter and Conti (2006, p. 9).
124.
See Anonymous (2006g).
125.
See Anonymous (2006f) and Milne (2006a, p. 18).
126.
See Adidas (2007c, p. 56).
127.
See Anonymous (2006a, p. 14, 2006h, p.1), Eberle (2007 p. 10), Esterl and Kang (2006), Hofer (2005b, p. 27), Milne (2006b) and Moody (2005).
128.
See Anonymous (2005g, p. 14, 2005i, p. 14, 2005j, p. 1), Eberle (2010a, p. 35) and Hofer (2008, p. 13).
129.
See Anonymous (2005g, p. 14, 2006h, p. 1), Ritzer (2009, p. 20) and Williams (2010).
130.
See Milne (2006b) and Williams (2010).
131.
See Anonymous (2006i, p. 14) and Lefton (2009).
132.
See Anonymous (2006a, p. 14, 2006i, p. 14), Jahn (2010, pp. 86–90), Lefton (2009) and Williams (2010).
133.
Lefton (2009).
134.
See Anonymous (2006a, p. 14, 2006h, p. 1, 2006i, p. 14, 2007a, p. 12), Hofer (2008, p. 13) and Williams (2010).
135.
See Hofer (2010, pp. 20–21), Lefton (2009).
136.
See Hofer (2009, p. 16).
137.
See Hofer (2008, p. 13, 2011, p. 63), Jahn (2010, pp. 86–90) and Ram (2008).
138.
See Anonymous (2009b) and Schäfer (2009).
139.
See Anonymous (2009a, p. 15), Hofer (2010, pp. 20–21) and Schäfer (2009).
140.
See Eberle (2010a, p. 35), Hofer (2010, pp. 20–21), Jahn (2010, pp. 86–90) and Lefton (2009).
141.
See Adidas (2010) and Eberle (2010a, p. 35).
142.
See Anonymous (2009b), Eberle (2010a, p. 35), Hofer (2011, p. 63), Jahn (2010, pp. 86–90) and Zmuda (2011).
143.
See Anonymous (2009b), Jahn (2010, pp. 86–90) and Zmuda (2011).
144.
See Cheng (2010).
145.
Cheng (2010); see also Eberle (2010b, pp. 22–23).
146.
See Adidas (2010) and Köhn (2010, p. 14).
147.
Translation of US$ values for “Route 2015” based on exchange rates as of December 31, 2010.
148.
See Adidas (2010).
149.
See Adidas (2011) and Statista (2017).
150.
See Adidas (2010) and Anonymous (2012a).
151.
Anonymous (2012a).
152.
See Adidas (2011, 2012, 2013) and Statista (2017).
153.
Hofer (2012, p. 26).
154.
Hofer and Metzger (2012, p. 26).
155.
Hofer (2013, p. 24).
156.
See Anonymous (2012c, p. 16) and Steinkirchner (2012, p. 11).
157.
See Anonymous (2012a, b, pp. 4–5, 2012c, p. 16) and Steinkirchner (2012, p. 11).
158.
See Anonymous (2012a, b, pp. 4–5), Dörner and Hofer (2011, p. 28) and Hage (2013, p. 40).
159.
Anonymous (2012a).
160.
See Dörner and Hofer (2011, p. 28), Hage (2013, p. 40) and Steinkirchner (2013, p. 12).
161.
See Anonymous (2012a, b, pp. 4–5), Dörner and Hofer (2011, p. 28) and Hage (2013, p. 40).
162.
See Wang (2016).
163.
Anonymous (2012a).
164.
See Reebok (2014) and Steinkirchner (2013, p. 12).
165.
See Anonymous (2014a), Reebok (2014) and Steinkirchner (2013, p. 12).
166.
See Steinkirchner (2013, p. 12).
167.
See Germano (2015) and Statista (2017).
168.
See Anonymous (2014b, p. 25) and Hofer (2014a, p. 18, 2014b, p. 15).
169.
See Adidas (2015a), Hofer (2014c, pp. 28–29) and Jervell (2015c).
170.
See Anonymous (2014c), Germano (2015), Hofer (2014c, pp. 28–29, 2015, pp. 24–27, 2016a, pp. 20–23) and Jervell (2015c).
171.
See Anonymous (2014c), Hofer (2014b, p. 15, 2014c, pp. 28–29, 2015, pp. 24–27, 2016a, pp. 20–23) and Jervell (2015c).
172.
See Anonymous (2015, p. 22).
173.
See Hofer (2014c, pp. 28–29, 2015, pp. 24–27, 2016a, pp. 20–23) and Jervell (2015c).
174.
See Anonymous (2014c), Germano (2015), Hofer (2015, pp. 24–27, 2016b, p. 24) and Jervell (2015c).
175.
See Anonymous (2014c), Germano (2015), Hofer (2015, pp. 24–27, 2016a, pp. 20–23, 2016b, p. 24) and Jervell (2015c).
176.
See Hofer (2015, pp. 24–27) and Jervell (2015a).
177.
See Adidas (2014).
178.
See Jervell (2015b) and Peterson (2015a, b).
179.
Adidas (2015a); see also Jervell (2015b), Jones (2015) and Peterson (2015a, b).
180.
See Guyot (2014).
181.
See Comstock (2014), Pathak (2015) and Vogel (2010).
182.
See Adidas (2015b), Lamkin (2015) and Runtastic (2017).
183.
See Adidas (2017).
184.
See Hofer and Tuma (2016, pp. 4–5), Jervell (2016) and Steinkirchner (2016, pp. 38–41).
185.
See Hofer and Tuma (2016, pp. 4–5), Jervell (2016) and Steinkirchner (2016, pp. 38–41).
186.
See Adidas (2017) and Nike (2016, 2017).
187.
See Germano (2015), Hofer (2016b, p. 24).
188.
See Adidas (2017).

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ESCP Europe Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Stefan Schmid, Thomas Kotulla & Philipp Leding
HHL Leipzig Graduate School of Management, Fraunhofer Center for International Management and Knowledge Economy, Leipzig, Germany
Tobias Dauth
University of Applied Sciences Europe, Berlin, Germany
Thomas Kotulla

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Questions

1.
Adidas’ acquisition of U.S. competitor Reebok represents a major cross-border transaction.
1. (a)
  Please discuss the main advantages and disadvantages that may generally exist when acquiring a foreign company.
2. (b)
  Which of these advantages and disadvantages were particularly relevant for Adidas’ decision to acquire Reebok? Can you think of other, unmentioned advantages and disadvantages that might have been related to the Reebok acquisition? Please back up your statements with appropriate reasoning.
2.
In 2005, Herbert Hainer said: “The acquisition is a unique opportunity. Retailers will be delighted” (Hofer 2014a, p. 18). At the same time, only some analysts and sporting goods industry experts agreed, whereas others raised doubts regarding the acquisition. In your opinion, were retailers as “delighted about the acquisition” as Hainer expected? And which concerns of analysts and sporting goods industry experts were justified or proved wrong? In your answer, please also take account of the motives and concerns mentioned in the case study.
3.
The brand positioning of Adidas and Reebok shows several similarities and differences.
1. (a)
  Please outline and contrast the global brand positioning of Adidas and Reebok after the acquisition.
2. (b)
  Comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the positioning after the acquisition with special emphasis on the measures taken by Adidas and Reebok from 2006 onwards. Do you think Adidas and Reebok represent suitable brand complements?
4.
Please imagine you are a sporting goods industry expert and your task is to evaluate the integration of Reebok.
1. (a)
  Based on a strategic analysis of the internal situation and the external environment, was the integration of Reebok a success story? Please include examples from the case study in your answer.
2. (b)
  What recommendations would you give to CEO Kasper Rorsted with respect to future steps to integrate (or not integrate) Reebok into the Adidas Group? Please make sure to back up your suggestions with reasonable arguments derived from your strategic analysis.
5.
If you were CEO Kasper Rorsted, which strategic decisions would you take over the next 3 years? Please elaborate in detail on corporate, business unit (e.g., for Adidas, Reebok and TaylorMade-Adidas Golf) and selected functional strategies (for instance marketing and purchasing).

Please note that, for some of the questions, the case study is only a starting point. You will have to search for additional information to answer the questions.

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Schmid, S., Dauth, T., Kotulla, T., Leding, P. (2018). Adidas and Reebok: Is Acquiring Easier than Integrating?. In: Schmid, S. (eds) Internationalization of Business. MIR Series in International Business. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74089-8_2

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