Puma

Today, PUMA is one of the world's leading manufacturers of sporting goods, designing and developing shoes, clothing and accessories. The company, founded in 1948, distributes goods in more than 120 countries. The company has more than 11,000 employees working around the world, and the main offices are located in Herzogenaurach (Germany), Boston and London.

Performance indicators

2020: Athletic footwear sales revenue - $2.9 billion

Largest Sports Brands Revenue from Footwear Sales, 2017-2020

History

2026: China's Anta Sports buys 29% of Puma for €1.5bn

Chinese sportswear manufacturer Anta Sports Products acquires a 29% stake in the German company Puma for 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion). The agreement between China's biggest sports brand and Pino family investment firm Artemis, which owns Puma, was announced on January 27, 2026.

According to Reuters, Anta Sports Products, whose capitalization on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange is estimated at $27.8 billion, will pay Artemis 35 euros per share. Puma shares rose 6% after the deal was announced, breaking a multiyear low. The market value of the German brand is about 3.2 billion euros.

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Фото: Reuters

The Chinese company said it did not plan a full takeover of Puma but intended to win board seats once the deal was completed. The purpose of the investment is to promote the growth of Puma in the Chinese market. China accounts for only 7% of Puma's global revenue, according to Anta's vice president of sustainability and investor relations, Wei Lin. The deal is good for Artemis: it will allow the company to reduce its debt burden.

The stock sale comes during a difficult period for Puma. The brand is facing increased competition from Nike, Adidas and new companies such as On Running. The launch of new sneaker models, including the Speedcat, did not bring the expected commercial success. Puma CEO Arthur Held, who led the company in July 2025, unveiled a recovery plan in October that includes 900 job cuts.

Anta has experience integrating international brands. The company is owned by Fila, Jack Wolfskin, Kolon Sport and Maia Active. In addition, according to Reuters, Anta is the largest shareholder in Amer Sports, which owns the Salomon, Arc'Teryx and Wilson brands. Deutsche Bank analysts expect Anta to become a more active partner for Puma than the previous shareholder^[1]

2023: 230,000 customer data breach

At the end of January 2023, an 84 MB data set was put up for sale on a hacker forum, which, according to the seller, contains personal data of 230 thousand Puma customers in Chile.

The hackers behind the database drain claim to be taken from Chilean e-commerce site Puma, although Cybernews was unable to independently verify it as of January 26, 2023. Puma officials said the company is "already investigating a data breach on its Chilean e-commerce site to establish what data was leaked and how it may have happened."

These 230,000 Puma customers are up for sale

The database leak included Puma customer names and contact information such as email, phone numbers, billing and delivery addresses. It also contained detailed information about purchases - order numbers, payment methods, the total amount of money paid, delivery costs and discounts. Puma's alleged data breach is very dangerous, as it allows hackers, posing as employees or representatives of Puma, to conduct targeted phishing campaigns. Hackers can also use this data in conjunction with the victim's credit card information found from any leaks to purchase goods from that card.

According to Cybernews researchers, such leaks occur often, which indicates that e-commerce sites are easy prey for cybercriminals. As the number of threat actors trying to use such sites grows, developers should pay attention to the implementation of security measures. If this is proven to have happened, then the leak will not be the first to affect sportswear giant Puma. In 2022, the company faced a data breach in an attack ransomware on one Kronos of its human resources providers. Threats managed to obtain personal data of employees, including social security numbers.^[2]

1950

In 1950, the founder of PUMA announced a competition among girls with a short haircut: the one who agrees to wear the PUMA logo applied with indelible ink on his neck for six months will receive a car.

Advertising company PUMA in 1950

But the success of the advertising campaign did not bring - it was eclipsed by the new Adidas - all-weather football boots and sports bags.

1948: Business split into two firms Adidas and Puma

Over time, relations between the brothers deteriorated, and in 1948 they divided the firm. Adolf organized the company Adidas (the name is composed of the diminutive form of the name Adi and the first three letters of the surname), and Rudolph - the company Ruda, soon renamed Puma.

​​Adolf and Rudolph Dassler are siblings, founders of Puma and Adidas. They did not like each other so much that they did not communicate until the end of their lives.

1928: Olympians perform in Dassler shoes

At the 1928 Summer Olympics, several athletes competed in Dassler sports shoes.

1924: Founding of Gebrüder Dassler

Adolf Dassler was born into a poor family. Shoemaker by profession (after his father; mother was a laundress), shortly after the First World War, Adolf, with the help of his father, Christoph Dassler, who worked in a shoe factory, began to produce sports shoes. His partners were blacksmiths, the Celein brothers, who made spikes for the soles. In 1923, Adolf invited his older brother Rudolf to his company.

On July 1, 1924, Rudolf and Adolf officially opened the shoe company Gebrüder Dassler, which became very successful. Adolf dealt with production issues, and Rudolph dealt with sales issues.

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