Umbro approached by Nike

Nike has made a takeover approach for Umbro and following the news, shares in Umbro rose 33p to 153p valuing the firm at £223 million.

Umbro, the England team’s kit supplier which is based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, did not name the prospective buyer but sources in the city were adamant that it was Nike, the sportswear giant who supplies shirts to Brazil and Manchester United.

The announcement came hours after England lost 2-1 to Russia with analysts saying England’s failure to qualify for the Euro 2008 tournament would cost Umbro £10 million in profits.

Broker Seymour Pierce said they were surprised at the timing. The share price was expected to fall for 6 weeks as people came to terms with the fact England had failed to qualify for an international tournament for the first time in over a decade.

Nike’s involvement could flush out Adidas and Puma, the German sportswear giants, who were linked to a takeover bid for Umbro in early 2007.

Sports Direct International started buying shares in Umbro in September and currently owns 15%. Should the takeover go ahead, Sports Direct are said to make a killing.

As well as supplying the England kit, Umbro also supplies Birmingham, Blackburn, Everton, Sunderland, West Ham and Wigan. In addition, they supply the national shirts for Northern Ireland, the Irish Republic, Norway and Sweden.

Umbro was founded by Harold Humphrey in 1920 in Wilmslow, Cheshire and got its name, based on Humphrey Brothers, 4 years later.

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