Portuguese Retailer Expands Abroad Without Breaking the Bank
- Sonae deal with U.K.’s JD Sports extends partnership strategy
- Retailer seeks to limit debt, financial risk in overseas push
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Sonae SGPS SA, Portugal’s biggest hypermarket and supermarket chain, wants to show that a retailer from a modestly sized market can expand overseas without deploying shopping carts full of cash.
The company this month expanded its presence across the Iberian peninsula by combining its sports retail arm with the regional unit of JD Sports Fashion Plc of the U.K. The deal gives Sonae a boost in Spain, where its sporting-goods business struggled with a lack of scale that has weighed on the company’s share price.