Adidas is the world's second
biggest sporting goods company.
The Adidas AG has taken over Reebok too,creating a new chapter in its history.
THE FOUNDATION
Adidas was founded in 1948 by Adolf
Dassler, following the split of Gebrüder Dassler Schuhfabrik between
him and his older brother Rudolf.
Rudolf later established Puma, which was
the early rival of Adidas
The company's clothing and shoe designs typically feature three
parallel bars, and the same motif is incorporated into Adidas's current
official logo. The "Three Stripes" were bought from Karhu
Sports in 1951
THE MIDDLE ERA
following the death of Adolf Dassler's son Horst
Dassler in 1987, the company was bought in 1989 by French industrialist Bernard
Tapie. Tapie was also deeply involved in politics.
He was Minister of Urban Affairs (ministre de la Ville)
in the French government at the time.
Tapie was at the time a famous specialist of rescuing
bankrupt companies, an expertise on which he built his fortune.
unable to pay the loan interest, Tapie mandated the Crédit Lyonnais bank to sell Adidas, and the bank subsequently converted the outstanding debt owed into equity of the enterprise
In February 1993, Crédit Lyonnais sold Adidas to Robert Louis-Dreyfus, a friend of Bernard Tapie for a much higher amount of money than what Tapie owed
Robert Louis-Dreyfus became the new CEO of the company.
EXPANSION
Under the CEO Robert Louis-Dreyfus,
adidas is moving from being a manufacturing and sales based company to a
marketing company.
Adidas went public in 1995 and became the "Adidas Group"
Soon after they acquired Solomon Group
and the New company was called Adidas-Solomon Group
