Sportswear retailer JD Sports said today it had bought retailer Shoe Palace for $325m in a move that would expand its footprint in the US West Coast, sending the company's shares 5% higher.
JD Sports entered the US market in 2018 with the acquisition of Finish Line.
It said today's deal would also increase its appeal among Hispanic and Latino consumers, who form a significant proportion of Shoe Palace's customer base.
Shoe Palace is operated by four brothers from the Mersho family who will be issued equity in JD's US unit, the British company said, adding the brothers would own 20% of the enlarged group in the US.
JD Sport, which owns Footpatrol and Cloggs, said the brothers would continue to manage Shoe Palace, but from next year the JD Finish Line and Shoe Palace teams would "begin to share ideas and best practices".
Founded in 1993, California-based Shoe Palace has 167 stores in the US, and generated a pretax profit of $52m last year on revenue of $435m.
JD said the deal was being funded through its existing cash reserves and bank facilities.
