China's leading sportswear company ANTA Sports Products, together with Chinese private equity firm Fountain Vest Partners, have submitted a non-binding preliminary indication of interest to acquire the entire share capital of Finnish sporting goods company Amer Sports Corporation.

In a filing with the Hong Kong stock exchange on September 12, the consortium is offering 40 euro (US$46.50) per share in cash. This translates to a bid of well over 4 billion euro as Amer Sports has a market capitalization of 3.984 billion euro when the market closed at the Nasdaq Helsinki stock exchange on September 11. Its stock price ended at 34.20 euro each, up 18.79% from the previous day's close price of 28.79 euro.

The bid is subject to a number of conditions, including conducting a due diligence investigation, final approval of the Anta board of directors and the investment committee of Fountain Vest, availability of financing and receipt of a recommendation from the Amer Sports' board of directors.

Completion of the possible acquisition would also be subject to further conditions, including the possible acquisition being structured as a cash tender offer and conditional on acceptances being received from shareholders holding at least 90% of the issued shares of Amer Sports.

In a separate statement, Amer Sports confirmed that it had received a non-binding preliminary indication of interest from the consortium, but added no negotiations are taking place and has made no decisions in respect to the indication of interest.

Amer Sports is a maker of internationally-recognized sporting goods brands such as Wilson tennis rackets, Salomon, Arc'teryx, Peak Performance, Atomic, Mavic, Suunto and Precor. The group's business is balanced by its broad portfolio of sports and products, and a presence in all major markets.

ANTA's interest in Amer Sports comes at a time when the company is launching its globalization strategy in 2018. Through its multi-brand strategy, it aspires to become a competitive global multi-brand company with newly-added brands, including KINGKOW and KOLON SPORT.

ANTA chairman and CEO Ding Shizhong has stated that aside from existing brands, the company will continue to seek high-end international sportswear brands with strong growth potential to meet the sportswear needs of its customers and to fill the gaps between different market segments.

Citi is representing ANTA and Fountain Vest in the transaction.