JD Sports is pondering raising new equity to fund deals as the retail landscape is transformed by the Covid pandemic.

JD Sports has been acquiring businesses internationally and cast its eye over Debenhams and Topshop in the UK.

The sports and fashion giant is looking at a £400m equity placing, Sky News reported.

This morning, JD said it was “exploring additional funding options with a view to increasing flexibility to invest in future strategic opportunities and that this may involve a non-pre-emptive equity placing. A further announcement will be made as and when appropriate.”

JD has performed strongly during the pandemic and at the end of last year acquired US business Shoe Palace for $325m. Shoe Palace owners the Mersho brothers were also awarded equity in JD’s enlarged US business.

Broker Investec said there are good growth opportunities for JD: “The management team has a good M&A track record. The JD team is constantly looking at opportunities. With the combination of Covid currently impacting trading for many retailers and brands reducing the number of wholesale partners they deal with, there are likely to be quite a number of interesting opportunities coming up globally for JD Sports.”

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