At the end of the year, the world's third-largest sporting goods group, Puma, lost its long-time CEO Björn Gulden.

He may switch to neighboring larger rival Adidas.

"My current contract with Puma ends on December 31, 2022 and after nine years I have decided not to renew it," Gulden is quoted as saying in a Puma statement on Friday.

Ilka Kopplin

Business correspondent in Munich.

  • Follow I follow

A short time later, Adidas announced in a mandatory announcement in the afternoon that they were "in talks with Björn Gulden as a possible successor to Kasper Rorsted".

The Dax group has not yet announced more.

Nevertheless, the personnel announcement caused a stir on the stock exchange.

The Adidas price then shot up by around 23 percent in the meantime, while the Puma price dropped significantly.

Gulden will be replaced by Puma's previous sales director Arne Freundt, who has been on the board since summer 2021 and has been with the company for many years.

The 42-year-old Freundt received a four-year contract, the Dax group said.

“I still have a lot of energy”

There has long been speculation about the change from Gulden to Adidas.

Gulden fueled the rumors on Friday.

"I think now is the right time for Puma, for my successor and for me to leave the company.

I still have a lot of energy for an operational role for the next 5 to 10 years, but that would have been too long for Puma," the 57-year-old Norwegian is quoted as saying in the Puma statement.

Adidas surprisingly announced in the summer that long-time CEO Kasper Rorsted would leave the company early by 2023 at the latest.

His contract would have actually run until 2026.

A successor has not yet been named.

Since then, the name Gulden has been rumored again and again.

Gulden himself commented on the past quarterly figures during a telephone conference with journalists, avoiding rumors of a change.

He said he didn't get an offer from Adidas.

However, he did not comment on the question of whether he would rule out a move.

He also answered evasively when asked whether he had a non-competition clause in his employment contract.

He doesn't even know what's in his contract, he hasn't looked into it for a long time.

Former professional soccer player Gulden joined Puma in the summer of 2013 after having previously worked at Helly Hansen, Deichmann, Pandora – and also at Adidas in the 1990s.

At the time, Puma was in a mood of crisis, and profits had collapsed dramatically.

From the start, Gulden agreed with the then majority owner, the luxury goods group Kering, that changes would take time.

Otherwise, as he said years later, he would not have competed.

As a result, the product range was streamlined, Puma focused less on lifestyle and more on sport.

The group has spent a lot of money on sponsorship in recent years, including for Borussia Dortmund.

Since taking office, Gulden has steadily brought the company back on track - except for the Corona year 2020,

where it was bad for everyone.

He increased sales from a good three billion euros in the 2012 financial year to 6.8 billion euros last year.

"I've had nine outstanding years with the Puma family and I'm very proud of what we've achieved together.

Even in the tougher times we had great momentum and achieved record sales and profits,” Gulden is quoted as saying.

If the switch to neighboring competitor Adidas is confirmed, then the Norwegian would have a big task ahead of him.

The brand with the three stripes recently had to cut its forecast again - for the second time in three months, which increased the pressure on the Adidas board of directors to appoint a new CEO.

Above all, the slump in China business is causing problems for the world's second largest group.

Recently, there has also been a cautious buying mood in the western markets.