Adidas paid $3.8B for Reebok to fight Nike — and sold it for $2.5B sixteen years later

In 2006, Adidas completed its $3.8 billion acquisition of Reebok, aiming to create a two-brand portfolio that could challenge Nike in the US and Canada. The deal included Rockport, CCM Hockey and the Greg Norman brand, which Adidas later divested for €400 million.

Under Adidas ownership, Reebok stagnated. The brand never found a clear identity alongside Adidas — it was neither the performance brand Adidas was, nor the lifestyle brand it had been in the 1980s. Investors repeatedly pressed Adidas to sell. Reebok's performance was described internally as 'sluggish' for most of the holding period.

In February 2022, Adidas sold Reebok to Authentic Brands Group for up to €2.1 billion (about $2.5 billion) — roughly $1.3 billion less than it paid. ABG said Reebok made its first major profit in years after the sale, suggesting the brand had been constrained rather than helped by its parent. Adidas said it would focus on its core brand.