Adidas boss, Herbert Hainer

The American sports goods group Reebok is to be bought by its German rival Adidas for three-point-eight billion dollars. The deal, which must still be approved by shareholders, will help Adidas compete more effectively against the market leader Nike. This report from Mark Gregory:

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Adidas chairman Herbert Hainer described the planned deal as a once in a lifetime opportunity to combine two of the most respected and well known companies in the sector. But Reebok will continue to have a separate identity, retaining its name and its headquarters in the US state of Massachusetts.

The enlarged company will have a fifth of the all important US market for sports shoes and clothes. The plan is to focus the two brands on different segments of the market. The German arm,Adidas, will continue its emphasis on goods for competitive sports while Reebok will be more of a youth and consumer lifestyle brand.

Adidas pays a glittering array of celebrities including the footballer David Beckham and the rap musician Missy Elliot to endorse its products. Reebok has a different approach to marketing which makes less use of big name sponsorship.

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in the shadow of
not as successful as Nike, not as big a company as Nike

take on
compete with. Here, this means to try to sell more products than Nike

a once in a lifetime opportunity
a chance to do something really important or exciting – this chance is unlikely to be available again

a separate identity
a different name and brand from the controlling company

The German arm
The part of the company based in Germany

continue its emphasis on
continue to concentrate on

consumer lifestyle
a way of living that involves frequently spending money on things (but not general things like food)

a glittering array of celebrities
a large number of very famous people. Note the use of the word glittering – something that glitters is very bright, often like a star. And a star is another word for a celebrity

to endorse
to say, usually for money, that a product is very good

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