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Foot Locker to make $360 million Japanese acquisition

Aug 12, 2021 (iclg.com) - Japanese streetwear and footwear boutique Text Trading Company KK (Atmos) has agreed to be taken over by United States footwear giant Foot Locker for USD 360 million.

New York Stock Exchange-listed Foot Locker engaged DLA Piper to act for it on the transaction, which Foot Locker hopes will help grow its reach and market position in Japan. Atmos owns the Atmos brand, a premium footwear retailer with a multi-channel offering and existing relationships with sellers in the footwear market. DLA Piper partner Erik Wulff, who also headed up the firm’s advisory team on the transaction, said in a statement that the deal will support Foot Locker’s “growth strategy in the growing Asia-Pacific market and expand on its impressive brand portfolio”. Foot Locker plans to pay for the acquisition using existing cash reserves. Atmos has 49 physical shop locations globally, with 39 of them in Japan, which is the world’s third-largest economy. As well as increasing its strategic presence in Japan, Foot Locker hopes that it can leverage its premium offering via the acquisition. In fiscal year 2020, Atmos generated revenues totalling approximately USD 175 million, with over 60% of this coming from online channels.

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Typhoon No. 15 (Chan-hom) made landfall in southern Ibaraki Prefecture on August 11 and was crossing southern Kanto late in the evening, bringing intense rain and strong winds to Tokyo and surrounding areas while forecasters warned that another band of rain could sweep in from the Pacific after midnight.

Transport disruption caused by Typhoon No. 15 was easing across eastern Japan on the morning of August 12, with most major railway and airline services returning to normal after dozens of flight cancellations and widespread rail disruption during the storm's landfall in Ibaraki Prefecture the previous evening.

Japan's H3 Rocket No. 9 successfully placed the Michibiki No. 7 navigation satellite into its planned orbit after lifting off from the Tanegashima Space Center in Kagoshima Prefecture at 4:23 a.m. on August 11, marking the country's second consecutive successful H3 launch.

The Tokaido Shinkansen operated its first overnight service ahead of the Obon holiday period, offering travelers a 15,000 yen trip from the Tokyo area to Kyoto and Shin-Osaka while allowing them to save on hotel costs and arrive earlier than the first regular morning trains.

Typhoon No. 15 is expected to approach and likely make landfall somewhere in the Kanto region on August 11, bringing strong winds and heavy rain that could disrupt conventional rail services, expressways and flights while also affecting a wider area extending into Tohoku.

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