Mergers and Acquisitions

What's more exciting for an organization than a acquisition...especially if you are on the acquisition side! Dick's has not been involved in too many of these transactions over the last 10 years, but one important one took place back in 2007.  Dick's agreed to purchase Chick's Sporting Goods for $41 Million. I've attached the link that details the transaction:


http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/dicks-sporting-goods-agrees-to-acquire-chicks-sporting-goods-59884972.html


What's almost as exciting are the rumors of an acquisition. Earlier this year, Dick's was thought to be on the block and prime target for Equity Firms. I've attached another link to an article that illustrates just how that could have happened.


http://www.streetinsider.com/Analyst+Comments/Dicks+Sporting+Goods+(DKS)+Could+Be+Acquired+in+Mid+$60s,+Says+Deutsche+Bank/10146468.html


What's interesting is what these rumors do to the stock price. The attached article does a nice job of showing how speculation can manipulate the stock price of an organization like Dick's!

Strategic Alliance - How Dick's continues to grow!

A plethora of large companies invest in strategic alliances or at least consider them often.. Dick's Sporting Goods is no different. In April of 2012 they entered into a strategic alliance with JJB, a UK Retailer. 


I've attached a link to an article that illustrates the transaction:


http://www.thedeal.com/content/restructuring/dicks-sporting-goods-to-invest-in-jjb.php


You can see this alliance / investment provides Dick's with an active growth opportunity outside it's normal business model. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next 5-10 years.


Enjoy!

Organizational Structure

The corporate world relies on executive leadership to move their organizations through many mazes of success and failures. The level of sustainability within these organizations is very much determined by the structure of the leadership team. I wanted to share the organizational chart that guides Dick's Sporting Goods.


Dick's leadership team has done a masterful job of directing the companies strategies and tactics through all the different swings in the economy over the past 10 years.


The link provided will give you further insight on the key executives that run DSG. It's not easy gaining full insight to company's organizational chart.  A lot of companies won't post them. The link below gives you an opportunity to sign up for further information related to the key executives.


http://www.theofficialboard.com/org-chart/dick-s-sporting-goods-2

Corporate Diversification - Does it hinder DSG?

Dick Sporting Good's has implemented a strategy of limited corporate diversification. They only operate in a single industry for the most part. Some could argue that their offerings touch a few different industries but in reality all of their goods fit in the same athletic, fitness and outdoor sport offerings. All of their retail offerings do provide them with some diversification for the consumer which does provide them with several key advantages. It allows them to touch several different types of consumers who enjoy all of the different offerings.


The limited corporate diversification strategy doesn't limit what Dick Sporting Goods can accomplish. Their model has proven extremely effective over the years. Not only does it provide a sustainable future it provides them with several cost advantages over it's competitors. They are indeed the dominant player in the industry and with their size and scope in the industry they will continue to lead the way in terms of revenue generation and profitability.