Apollo And Nike Announce Strategic Partnership by PitchBook
Apollo Global Management and Nike (NYSE: NKE) have entered into a strategic partnership to manage the sports apparel icon’s manufacturing supply chain in the Americas. To that end, a new supply chain subsidiary under Apollo’s leadership has acquired two companies using capital from the firm’s aptly designated Special Situations I fund. The first is apparel maker New Holland; the second is embellishment, warehousing and logistics operator ArtFX. In addition, Apollo will make further acquisitions to create a vertically integrated apparel ecosystem that travels up the supply chain from source to distribution.
The partnership with Apollo comes as Nike continues to grapple with problems in its supply chain and logistics. In June 2015, the company opened a massive distribution center in Memphis after some retailers lodged complaints highlighting delays to North American shipments. In May, Nike added to its distribution center in Belgium to streamline its European operations.
