Dick’s Sporting Goods to buy struggling shoe chain Foot Locker for $2.4 billion

Dick's Sporting Goods is buying the struggling footwear chain Foot Locker for about $2.4 billion, the second buyout of a major footwear company this year as business leaders struggle with uncertainty over how U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on foreign goods will affect companies that make much of their products overseas.

Dick's said Thursday that it expects to run Foot Locker as a standalone unit and keep the Foot Locker brands, which includes Kids Foot Locker, Champs Sports, WSS, atmos and its namesake.

Earlier this month Skechers announced that it was being taken private by the investment firm by 3G Capital in a transaction worth more than $9 billion.

Foot Locker shareholders can choose to receive either $24 in cash or 0.1168 shares of Dick's common stock for each Foot Locker share that they own.

The footwear industry has been growing increasingly concerned over Trump's trade war with other countries, particularly China. Athletic shoe makers have invested heavily in production in Asia.

Shares of sporting goods and athletic shoe companies have been under pressure all year.

About 97% of the clothes and shoes purchased in the U.S. are imported, predominantly from Asia, according to the American Apparel & Footwear Association. Using factories overseas has kept labor costs down for U.S. companies, but neither they nor their overseas suppliers are likely to absorb price increases due to new tariffs.

Dick's said that it anticipates closing on the Foot Locker deal in the second half of the year. The transaction still needs approval from Foot Locker shareholders.