Puma surges after report CVC, Authentic Brand preparing takeover bid

(Reuters) - Two investors are preparing a takeover bid for German sportswear maker Puma, Manager Magazin reported on Wednesday, pushing its share price up more than 11%.

Authentic Brands CEO Jamie Salter and private equity firm CVC's German head Alex Dibelius have both expressed their interest in the 29% stake held by the Pinault family, paving the way for a potential bidding war, the German magazine reported.

A person close to the French family's holding company Artemis said there was no active sales process for its Puma stake despite interest from some parties and added that the German media report was "factually false". 

Puma was the biggest gainer on Europe's STOXX 600 index, though the shares have halved in value this year.

Puma and CVC declined to comment on the report. Authentic Brands did not respond to requests for comment.

Reuters reported last week that Artemis will not sell its stake in Puma at its current market value and is not engaged in talks over a deal. 

Salter's Authentic Brands is known for acquiring and revitalising distressed brands such as clothing chains Forever 21 and Aeropostale and bought Reebok from Adidas in 2021, beating off competition from rival suitor CVC.

Bloomberg reported in August that Artemis was sounding out potential buyers for its roughly $960 million Puma stake.

The Pinault family acquired the Puma stake from Kering in 2018 after the luxury goods group sold the shares to focus on its core business.

($1 = 0.8439 euros)

(Reporting by Linda Pasquini; Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni, Siddarth S, Anika Ross, Tassilo Hummel and Kirsti Knolle; Editing by Kevin Liffey, Kirsten Donovan and David Goodman)