A former executive at the DIY retailer B&Q is being lined up to take the helm at JD Sports Fashion, Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer by market value.
Sky News has learnt that the Lancashire-based company is close to finalising the appointment of Regis Schultz as its new chief executive.
City sources said on Tuesday that the appointment could be announced within a matter of days.
As JD Sports’ chief executive, Mr Schultz will become the long-term replacement for Peter Cowgill, who stepped down last month amid boardroom disagreements over succession and corporate governance.
The new chief will join JD Sports from Al-Futtaim Group, a Dubai-based conglomerate which operates a substantial retail business spanning the Middle East and Asia.
Mr Schultz held several senior jobs at B&Q, which is part of the FTSE-100 retailer Kingfisher, and also ran Monoprix, the French supermarket chain.
A French national with an extensive international pedigree in the sector, his appointment is likely to be regarded as a coup for JD Sports, which has risen to become one of Britain’s most valuable publicly traded retailers.
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One insider cited Mr Schultz’s track record at digital transformation in the retail sector as one of the factors which had elevated him above other candidates for the job.
His recruitment will form the latest part of JD Sports’ boardroom overhaul following the recent appointment of Andy Higginson as the company’s chairman.
The date of his arrival was unclear on Tuesday, but when Mr Schultz does join JD Sports, he will replace Kath Smith, a former Adidas executive, who has been running the company since Mr Cowgill’s departure.
Under its previous chief, shares in JD Sports outperformed its peers, with Mr Cowgill having hit upon a successful formula for selling athleisure brands, and growing the business internationally through a string of acquisitions.
The company is majority-owned by Pentland, the family-controlled group which manages a portfolio of brands, including Berghaus, Lacoste and Speedo.
Pentland is said to have been supportive of the move to replace Mr Cowgill by splitting the executive chairman role he had held for years.
JD Sports became embroiled in a series of public bust-ups with regulators, most notably over its ownership of the Footasylum chain, which it bought for £90m in 2019.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has told JD Sports to sell the business, and in February jointly fined the two companies nearly £5m for breaching an order not to share commercially sensitive information.
Last week, Sky News revealed that JD Sports was in detailed talks to sell Footasylum to Aurelius Group, the private equity investor.
The Bury-headquartered company is also under scrutiny from the CMA in relation to the sale of Rangers FC replica kit.
Last week, a revolt comprising nearly a third of JD Sports’ shareholders over boardroom pay hinted at the unrest felt by City institutions about its governance standards.
As part of its efforts to improve its governance and risk management, JD Sports recently drafted in Mr Higginson, the former Morrisons chairman, as non-executive chairman.
A former Tesco executive, Mr Higginson is one of Britain’s most experienced retail figures, and has served on the boards of several public companies, including Sky plc prior to its takeover by Comcast.
He now serves as a director of Flutter, the FTSE-100 gambling group which owns Paddy Power and Betfair.
Shares in JD Sports were trading at around 134.3p on Tuesday morning, giving the company a market value of about £7.2bn.
A spokesman for the retailer declined to comment.
