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US-Brazilian investment group 3G Capital has agreed to acquire US footwear company Skechers for about $9.4bn in cash.
The New York-based firm, best known for teaming up with Warren Buffett to merge Kraft and Heinz, is returning to major dealmaking after a long search for the right target.
Under the terms of the agreement, Skechers shareholders will have the option to be bought out at $63 per share, representing a nearly 30 per cent premium to Friday’s closing price. Alternatively, shareholders can receive $57 in cash plus a holding in a newly private parent company that will control the footwear group.
Chief executive Robert Greenberg, who founded Skechers in 1992, will continue to lead the firm together with the existing management team. His son Michael Greenberg will remain as president, and the firm will retain its headquarters in California.
3G has a history of working with business founders to turn their firms into big players in their sectors. In the early 2000s, the Brazilian founders of 3G partnered with Belgium’s Van Damme, de Spoelberch and de Mévius families to merge AmBev and Interbrew, creating InBev and later acquiring Anheuser-Busch to form AB InBev, the world’s largest brewer.
More recently, 3G acquired a majority stake in Hunter Douglas, the Dutch manufacturer of window coverings and architectural products, from the Sonnenberg family in a $7bn deal.
The decision to extend to regular Skechers shareholders the option of retaining a small stake in the company is unusual in take private transactions. However, for 3G it highlights its conviction in the long-term growth of the company.
Although 3G is best known using companies it purchases as vehicles to acquire rivals and dominate a sector, people close to the investment firm said that it was more likely to focus on expanding the group from within.
Skechers posted record sales of $2.41bn in the first quarter of 2025, but withdrew its annual results forecast, blaming “macroeconomic uncertainty stemming from global trade policies”.
Footwear companies, which make the bulk of their shoes in China and south-east Asia, have been hit hard by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, including a 145 per cent levy on Chinese imports.
The US accounted for 38 per cent of Skechers’ global sales in 2024, while China and Vietnam provided most of its manufacturing.
In a securities filing on Friday, Skechers said the US tariff policy “poses a significant risk to our business operations” and may lead to lower profit margins, higher shoe prices and reduced consumer demand.
Last week, Skechers signed a letter with major footwear companies calling for the president to exempt footwear from Trump’s steep “reciprocal” tariffs against most trading partners — many of which are now paused.
The letter warned of “an existential threat” to American footwear retailers, which it said would be left to foot “a tariff ranging from more than 150 per cent to nearly 220 per cent”.
It added that retailers had been forced to place orders on hold and that “inventory for US consumers may soon run low.”
The deal, which is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, was unanimously approved by Skechers’ board.
