Negociations have been ongoing for the last few weeks,PumaAdidas

Bjorn Gulden will take over at Adidas from Kasper Rorsted, who will officially leave the group on November 11. Gulden is no stranger to Adidas, where he was previously vice president of textiles and accessoriesRackPandora

Even before the transfer was made official, Puma had indicated that Arne Freundt would be promoted to take over from Bjorn Gulden. Freundt had last year been promoted from the position of general manager of the EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) to that of commercial director, joining the board of directors in the process. He had joined Puma in 2011 as global director of strategy, before taking over as head of retail and e-commerce.

Arne Freundt’s appointment as CEO is effective immediately, while Bjorn Gulden’s tenure at Puma runs until the end of the fiscal year 2022.

Gulden will join Adidas in a delicate period, the group having just revised downwards its projections in the face of the economic slowdown in Western markets and the impact of health restrictions in China. The group’s net profit in the third quarter reached 179 million euros

Puma, for its part, posted a record third quarter 2022