ITOCHU Corporation (headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Keita Ishii, President & COO; hereinafter “ITOCHU”) announced today that it has reached an agreement for rights to distribute market and license Reebok in Japan. Reebok is owned by Authentic Brands Group (headquartered in New York, U.S; Jamie Salter, Founder, Chairman and CEO; hereinafter “ABG”). ITOCHU will start its business via LOCONDO, Inc. (headquartered in Shibuya-ku, Tokyo; Yusuke Tanaka, President & Chief Executive Officer; hereinafter “LOCONDO”).

Known for creating the first spiked running shoe, the first athletic shoe designed specifically for women and its breakthrough THE PUMP™ technology, Reebok has a rich and storied fitness heritage and continues to introduce innovations that propel the industry forward. The brand established its dominant presence in professional basketball, American football, baseball and soccer in the 1990s, creating long-term partnerships with various first-class athletes who helped shape its performance lines. Reebok continues to attract new fans through innovation in men’s, women’s, and kids footwear, clothing and accessories featuring superior functionality and high-quality designs. Today, the brand is available in over 80 countries and 255 stores worldwide.

ITOCHU will work closely with ABG, LOCONDO and its partner network, to leverage a wide range of knowledge and expertise in brand development, retail and e-commerce, in order to enhance Reebok’s presence in Japan, aiming to achieve sales of 20 billion yen at retail within the next five years.

ITOCHU has positioned the expansion of its steadily growing sports-related business under the Textile Company as one of its priority strategies. Through expansion of the globally excellent Reebok brand, ITOCHU will promote business transformation by prioritizing consumer needs and offer premium high-demand products, which is one of the basic policies in its medium-term management plan, Brand-new Deal 2023, and will continue to enhance its earnings platform.

Authentic Brands Group (ABG) is a brand development, marketing and entertainment company, which owns a portfolio of global media, entertainment and lifestyle brands. Headquartered in New York City, with offices around the world, ABG elevates and builds the long-term value of more than 50 consumer brands and properties by partnering with best-in-class manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers. Its brands have a global retail footprint across the luxury, specialty, department store, mid-tier, mass and e-commerce channels and in more than 6,100+ freestanding stores and shop-in-shops around the world.

Under its management mission Innovation for the industry and freedom for customers, the company operates the following three businesses mainly through LOCONDO.jp, an e-commerce website for shoes and fashion where customers can try on items easily at home and return them: (1) An e-commerce business and B2B services that share and utilize its IT and logistics platforms, etc. that have been established for the e-commerce business, (2) a platform business, and the operation of brands using the services provided by its e-commerce and platform businesses, and (3) the brand business.