Pentland Group

The success of Pentland Group can be traced back to August 1981, when Pentland Industries acquired 55% of Reebok for US$77,500. By 1983/84, Reebok accounted for 70% of Pentland's turnover. Pentland's shares rose from GB£0.55 at the start of 1984 to GB£3 by the end of the year, and up to GB£10 in June 1985, while profits rose from GB£1 million in 1983 to GB£12.9 million in 1985. Pentland then listed 60% of Reebok in a flotation valuing the company at US$300 million.[3]

Stephen Rubin began working alongside his father at Pentland at the age of 21.[4] He later became chairman and chief executive of Pentland, remaining so until 1998 when he split his role and appointed his son, Andrew, as chief executive.[4]

Pentland was taken private in 1999 to focus on longer-term investments.[5] However, according to an article in The Independent, City institutions were unhappy with the way Rubin was running the company, which "underperformed the market by 40% since it floated in 1989".[4]

Pentland Group acquired 45% of JD Sports Fashion plc from its founders, John Wardle and David Makin, in May 2005.[6] Pentland Group is now the majority owner of JD Sports (55%), which has 2,500 retail outlets worldwide, including JD, Scotts, Size, Blacks, GO Outdoors and Millets in the UK.

In 2013, the company reported a 45% drop in pre-tax profits to GB£62.9m.[7] However, Pentland Group saw total revenues rise 14.2%, to £1.74bn, a fact Drapers magazine linked to the Olympics fuelling growth from sportswear brands such as Speedo. On the subject, Andy Rubin commented: “There’s no doubt the Olympics helped overall, but in summarizing 2012 I’d say it was really starting to deliver on the investments we have put into global growth over the last 10 years.[8]

In 2014, Pentland Group reported a total sales growth of 10% to £1.9bn and reported pre-tax earnings of £85m (Year to December 2013). Excluding income from its retail investments, turnover rose 11% to £590m, with Speedo delivering a record performance.[9]

In 2015, Pentland Group reported a revenue increase of 14%, to £2.2bn (year to December 2014). Within the Pentland Brands portfolio, Speedo achieved "record sales" for the second year in a row.[10]. From 1 January 2015, Andy Rubin was promoted to Chairman at Pentland Brands plc (a division of Pentland Group plc).[11]

In February 2016, JD Sports Fashion appointed Andy Rubin to its board as a non-executive director. This measure was a precursor to the business increasing its international expansion.[12]. In June 2016, Pentland Group announced a 10% increase in sales to £2.4bn (year to December 2015). Rugby-inspired label Canterbury Brands had “record-breaking sales”, boosted by the Rugby World Cup. Operating profits, before tax and exceptional items, was up 36% year on year, to £220m.[13]

On 15 March 2017 Pentland Brands Limited, a division of Pentland Group, announced it had bought a majority stake in California-based sneaker brand, SeaVees. [14]. For the year ended December 2017, Pentland Group recorded total group revenue increase of 25 percent to 3.6 billion pounds (4.7 billion dollars). [15]. In January 2018, Pentland Group announced a 50/50 joint venture footwear partnership with the Lacoste Group. [16].

In March 2018, Pentland Brands Limited announced its acquisition of the performance cycling brand Endura.[17] and later that year sold its Ted Baker footwear business back to the Ted Baker brand. [18]. Fuelled by a record-breaking performance from JD Sports Fashion, Pentland Group’s revenue soared 38.9% to £5.1bn for the year to 31 December 2018, with Group operating up by 9.3% to £411m. In 2018, JD Sports Fashion bought US retailer, Finish Line and opened 83 new stores, including 78 in international markets. [19].

In January 2019, Pentland Group owner, Stephen Rubin, was named by the Sunday Times as Britain's top-ranking taxpayer with a tax liability of £181.6m. [20].

In December 2019, Pentland Group sold 2.47 percent of its JD Sports’ shares to fund future group acquisitions, however, it remains JD's largest shareholder, controlling 55 percent of the business. At the time, Pentland Group said it was “committed to remaining a long-term majority shareholder in JD at the same time as growing its portfolio of sports, outdoor and fashion brands through organic investment and acquisitions". [21].

In January 2020, Pentland Group brought the spinoff Speedo USA and Speedo North America back under its Speedo brand by buying it out from PVH for $170 million in cash. [22].

• Official website