As part of the announcement that Amer Sports is filing to go public in the U.S., the company’s recent revenue growth in China stood out.
The owner of brands such as Arc’teryx, Salomon, Atomic, and others said it has grown its business “significantly” in the Greater China region, which consists of mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
Amer Sports went private in 2019, after a consortium led by China’s Anta Sports acquired it with an offer of more than $5 billion. Anta Sports is Amer Sports’ largest shareholder and Amer Sports is Anta Sports’ main subsidiary.
In 2023, $593 million in revenue came from the region for the nine months ended Sept. 30, up from $353.8 million for the prior-year period, a growth rate of 67.6%, partly driven by China rebounding from COVID-19 restrictions.
For the nine months ended Sept. 30, 19% of Amer Sports’ total revenue came from the region. That’s up from 15% in 2022.
The Americas is the company’s biggest region by revenue, followed by EMEA, Greater China, and Asia Pacific.
China Success
Veteran outdoor industry analyst Matt Powell noted that Amer Sports has a big growth opportunity in China as both Salomon and Arc’teryx are “underpenetrating” the region.
Amer Sports operates 138 Arc’teryx-owned retail stores globally, with 63 of them in China.
“The stores combined with our brand connects well with both pure outdoor adventurers and luxury consumers in Greater China,” the company said in its filing.
Amer Sports also operates 114 Salomon-owned retail stores internationally, with 30 in China, and a total of 67 distribution points in Greater China, up from 13 in 2019.
The company plans to expand its Salomon stores in China as it develops more awareness of the brand.
“While our initial success in Greater China was largely related to growth of Arc’teryx, we have developed a repeatable playbook with Salomon, which grew its revenue in Greater China by 72% from 2021 to 2022,” the company said in its SEC filing.
Since 2018, the company has increased its employee headcount in China from 450 to 800 as of Sept. 30, 2023.
Arc’teryx has also grown the membership of its loyalty program in the region from 14,000 in 2018 to 1.7 million as of last year.
Deeper Understanding of Chinese Consumers
Amer Sports added that as its presence grows in China, it is deepening its understanding of the average consumer in the region.
“Our retail know-how, including our ability to deliver a high-end, luxury oriented in-store presentation and execution capabilities have been upgraded significantly,” the company said in its filing.
“We believe our global capabilities and presence, especially within Greater China, positions us well to drive growth in the athletic apparel and athletic footwear markets globally.”
However, there is at least one potential concern with Amer Sports’ China operations in the future. Since March 2023, Chinese rules state domestic companies wanting to list in the U.S. or Hong Kong are required to comply with national security measures and other laws.
In the filing, the company said, “There remain some uncertainties as to whether we will be required to obtain approvals from (Chinese) authorities to list on the U.S. exchanges and offer securities in the future, and if required, we cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain such approval.”
For more on Amer Sports IPO:
Arc’teryx, Salomon, Atomic Parent Company Amer Sports Files for IPO
Arc’teryx Stands Out as Revenue Leader in Amer Sports’ IPO Filing
