Academy Sports + Outdoors’s largest shareholder is selling its stake.
Affiliates of private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. LP (KKR) hold 18.6 million Academy shares, a roughly 20 percent stake valued at nearly $852.8 million as of Friday’s close at $45.74 a share. The share sale would essentially be a secondary initial public offering for the company, which raised $203 million in its IPO last year, and would consist solely of the shares sold by KKR, the chain’s minority owner since 2011. Academy is not selling any shares to the public.
Academy plans to repurchase up to $200 million of the KKR shares as part of its $500 million stock repurchase program, it said Monday. The per share purchase price will be equal to the price underwriters pay to the selling stockholders.
The sporting goods and outdoor retailer operates 259 stores across 16 states. “Academy’s product assortment focuses on key categories of outdoor, apparel, footwear and sports & recreation through both leading national brands and a portfolio of 19 private label brands, which go well beyond traditional sporting goods and apparel offerings,” the company said.
Academy’s second-quarter results last week showed the highest quarterly earnings in the company’s history. Net income rose 14 percent to $190.5 million on a net sales gain of 12 percent to $1.79 billion for the period ended July 31.