At the beginning of 2007 - for the first time in his 13 years at the helm of Puma - Jochen Zeitz was able to take a deep breath, reflect on the company's successful turnaround and, most importantly, contemplate the way ahead. After reinventing itself, creating a new market segment and demonstrating that the company could compete with its bigger brother Adidas, Puma was at a crossroads. It had become very profitable in the past decade and the stock price had also done well. Analysts considered Puma a jewel. It was therefore not a real surprise that rumours began to circulate within the industry that two firms were flirting with the idea of buying the company: Nike and Pinault-Printemps-Redoute (PPR). Mr Zeitz and Puma needed to make a decision: (1) sell out to the leader in the sports industry; (2) join a conglomerate of luxury brands and run with a herd; or (3) remain solitary like a Puma in the wild? What should be the next step to grow the company, keeping in mind the interests of Puma's shareholders, employees, and other stakeholders?

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Case details

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A Puma vs. Giants: The rise of David
Johanna Mair and Mark Fruechtnicht
IESE Business School
Ref DG-1519-E

About the authors

Johanna Mair is associate professor in the Strategic Management department at IESE Business School, Spain. e jmair@iese.edu

Mark Fruechtnicht is a Research Assistant at IESE Business School, Spain.

Related links

• Adidas website
• Puma website
• Puma vs Adidas: Return of the battle of the boots
  by Ruth Elkins
  The Independent, 24 April 2006

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