JD Sports has announced the sale of Footasylum following an investigation by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA).

In November last year, the regulator ordered the sports fashion brand to sell Footasylum after it found the takeover could lead to a substantial reduction in competition.

At the time, JD Sports disagreed with the CMA, suggesting that its most important competitors were direct to consumer operations of the international brands themselves rather than Footasylum, which it said has a market share of less than five per cent.

The UK competition watchdog said that it found JD Sports is the closest alternative for shoppers at Footasylum, adding that it expects this to continue to be the case even after taking into account the continued growth in online shopping, including on the websites and apps of brands such as Nike and adidas.

JD Sports is selling the company to asset management firm AURELIUS Group for £37.5 million.

"I would like to sincerely thank the teams at AURELIUS and Footasylum who worked collaboratively with the CMA to agree this transaction,” said Kath Smith, interim chief executive, JD Sports. “We wish both parties every success for the future."

In February, both JD Sports and Footasylum were fined £4.7 million after breaching rules linked to the blocked merger.

The breaches include the sharing of commercially sensitive information between the two businesses' chief executives. Both CEOs claimed they couldn’t remember what had been said during meetings.

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