Puma company launches new division to boost brands

Puma chief executive Jochen Zeitz is to head a new sports and lifestyle division of parent company PPR that aims to boost sales of its Puma master brand.

Main brand Puma will be moved to the division, the company says in a statement, while Zeitz will look to build a “portfolio of strong, complementary brands within the sport and lifestyle arena”.

In a statement, Puma says the new business will help Puma and other brands in the portfolio “benefit from international growth opportunities and new synergies derived from complementary consumer universes and pooled resources”.

François-Henri Pinault, Chairman and CEO of PPR, says: “I strongly believe in Puma’s future potential as an innovation leader and icon for the sport and lifestyle industry backed by its strong brand.

“I am confident that Jochen Zeitz, together with the new CEO in charge of the Puma brand, will bring PUMA to the next step. We will now look into expanding our sport and lifestyle investments in the coming years with PUMA as a core brand in our future portfolio,” he says.

The change also sees Zeitz become executive chairman of Puma and he will lead the search for his successor as chief executive.

Puma will change its corporate structure to become a Societas Europaea, which will see a one-tier board introduced that will include Pinault.

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