ADS Adidas AG

By Joshua Kirby

Adidas AG said Thursday that it will buy back shares of up to 4 billion euros ($4.52 billion) over the coming years as part of a policy of shareholder returns set out earlier this year.

The German sporting-goods major said the buyback will start in January and run until 2025. The plan adds to the EUR1 billion in buybacks set out this year, taking the total to EUR5 billion in regular buybacks over the five-year strategic cycle, Adidas said.

In addition, the company will return the majority of the proceeds of the sale of U.S. subsidiary Reebok when the transaction is completed, as expected, in the first quarter next year. Adidas in August agreed to the sale of the sportswear brand to New York-based licensing group Authentic Brands Group for a total of up to EUR2.1 billion.

"Over the next couple of years, our business will become significantly more cash generative than ever before," finance chief Harm Ohlmeyer said. He added that the policy will start strongly next year, with the expected high free cash flow in 2022 to be returned "almost entirely" to shareholders.

Setting out its five-year plan in April, Adidas said it would return EUR8 billion-EUR9 billion through 2025 via buybacks and annual dividend payouts of between 30% and 50% of net income from continuing operations.

Write to Joshua Kirby at joshua.kirby@wsj.com; @joshualeokirby

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 16, 2021 08:43 ET (13:43 GMT)

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