China’s Wearable Technology Company Acquired Suunto of Amer Sports

On 10 January, Amer Sports announced that the group had already reached an agreement with Liesheng, a Chinese wearable technology company, and would sell its brand Suunto. It is expected that this acquisition will be completed by the first half of 2022.

In 1936, Finnish engineer and outdoor activity lover Tuomas Vohlonen founded Suunto and its products included sports watches, precision instruments, dive computers, etc. Amer Sports bought Suunto in 1999.

Amer Sports once announced its new strategy in September 2018--- to promote sustainable growth of profits while prioritizing the acceleration of developing five business areas, i.e., clothes and shoes, B2C business, Chinese and American business and digital business.

• In July 2019, Amer Sports completed the detachment and selling of its brand Mavic.
• In December 2020, Anta announced that Amer Sports was selling its brand Precor to the American fitness giant Peloton at USD 200 million.

Michael Hauge Sørensen, COO of Amer Sports, expressed that Suunto is not at the core of Amer Sports, whereas Liesheng has the technology and R&D foundation to release Suunto’s full potential.

Liesheng was founded in Guangdong in 2015 and was among Xiaomi’s first batch of community. Its primary business was wireless audio. Liesheng’s smart watch brand Haylou released the Haylou RS3 smart watch last year and it won the 2021 IAT global design gold award.

60% of Liesheng’s staff are R&D employees. The company has two major R&D centers and will build the Xiaomi community industrial park which is going to be set up as Liesheng Southwest Headquarters as well, in Chongqing Science City.

Heikki Norta, CEO of Suunto, said that many of Suunto’s and Liesheng’s businesses complement each other in terms of products and market. Liesheng’s strategy in the wearable device industry will drive Suunto’s product innovation and R&D in the field of outdoor exploration.

Hao MA, the chairman of the board in Liesheng expressed that Liesheng can provide Suunto with technological advantages in expanding its Asian market, and Suunto’s strong brand asset can bring opportunities to Liesheng when it enters into a new market and expands new product categories.

When the acquisition is completed, Suunto’s business will continue to be run by the headquarters in Vantaa, Finland. The brand, its products, services, business relationships and staff status will remain unchanged.

| Photo Credit: Suunto, Liesheng

| Writer: Jiaqi Wang