Sports Direct International PLC (LON:SPD) has snapped up a £3.5mln interest in Goals Soccer Centres PLC (LON:GOAL) as the high street chain’s billionaire boss Mike Ashley pushes ahead with plans to build the ‘Selfridges of sport’.
Shares in Goals, a five-a-side football pitch operator, surged on the news; rising 12% to 111p in afternoon trading.
Sports Direct shareholders seemed in favour of the acquisition as well, with the stock up 0.8% to 397.2p.
Difficult period for Sports Direct
The purchase follows hot on the heels of Sports Direct’s acquisition of a 26% stake in video game retailer Game Digital PLC (LON:GMD) back in July.
Newcastle United owner Ashley also has sizeable stakes in French Connection Group (LON:FCCN) and department store Debenhams PLC (LON:DEB).
It’s been a rough ride for Sports Direct over the past 12 months or so. Ashley was forced to defend his grand plans for the sportswear retailer last month after the company posted a 60% fall in pre-tax profits.
The weak performance was blamed on the sharp fall in sterling and Ashley’s failure to hedge against it, not to mention the wave of bad press that followed Sports Direct for most of the year.
Despite the poor numbers, Ashley boasted: “It’s clear we’ve smashed the ball out of the park with our Selfridges of sport concept.”