Puma shares dipped nearly 3 percent on Thursday morning following a surge a day earlier on further speculation buyers are circling the German athletic company.
On Wednesday, shares of Puma SE closed nearly 17 percent higher after news broke that Authentic Brands Group and private equity firm CVC were interested in acquiring the company.
According to a story from German business publication Manager Magazin, Authentic Brands chief executive officer Jamie Salter and private equity firm CVC’s German head Alex Dibelius have both expressed their interest in the 29 percent stake held by the Pinault family, paving the way for a potential bidding war.
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This potential deal wouldn’t be the first time the Authentic team has done business Puma SE. In 2015, Authentic Brands Group acquired Swedish footwear brand Tretorn from Puma for an undisclosed sum.
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A spokesperson for Authentic Brands Group declined to comment on the acquisition speculation.
Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note on Thursday that Authentic “does look to be a credible party” to acquire Puma, citing the firm’s stable of over 50 brands including Reebok and Champion. Authentic acquired Reebok from Adidas in 2022 for up to $2.5 billion.
“For investors Puma was already in a difficult spot with a loss expected for 2025 and 2026 set to be the start of a turnaround under the new CEO,” Deutsche Bank analysts wrote. “The new strategy for Puma is set to be announced with the third quarter results at the end of October, and it may make sense for any deal to be attempted before a potential change in strategic direction.”
This latest development with Puma follows a report from German business newspaper Handelsblatt on Friday that speculated that rival Adidas may be interested in taking over the company. The news sent Puma’s stock up nearly 5 percent higher on Tuesday.
Outside of the Adidas buzz, speculation about a potential sale had temporarily boosted Puma’s share price in August after a Bloomberg story claimed that Artémis, the Pinault family’s holding company, could potentially sell its stake in the German sports brand.
According to Bloomberg, unnamed sources close to the deal said the billionaire family behind Kering Group is “working with advisers” to potentially sell its 29 percent stake in Puma through Artémis. (The stake is worth roughly 800 million euros.)
In July, Puma released preliminary second-quarter results that were below expectations. In Q2 2025, Puma sales fell by 2 percent, in currency adjusted terms, to 1.94 billion euros.
At the time of the earnings release, Puma also made deep cuts to its guidance for the rest of the year. The German brand now expects sales to drop by low-double digits over the whole year and also issued a profit warning. Previously the company had been much more upbeat, predicting low growth and a positive EBIT — earnings before income and taxes — of somewhere between 445 million and 525 million euros. Now it expects a loss.
But the company is making strides in turning things around.
In April, Puma SE chief executive officer Arne Freundt stepped down from his role, with the company citing “differing views on strategy execution” as for why he left the brand.
Freundt was replaced by Adidas veteran Arthur Hoeld, who took on the role as chairman and CEO on July 1.