Key Points
- ASICS will move Onitsuka Tiger into a wholly owned subsidiary, OT Group, via a company split.
- The split is effective January 1, 2027; OT Group will be headquartered in Tokyo.
- Onitsuka Tiger sales rose 43% to 136.5 billion yen (~$850M) in fiscal 2025.
- ASICS says independence will enable faster, brand-specific decision-making.
ASICS is cutting its hottest brand loose — on purpose. The company's board approved a plan to spin Onitsuka Tiger off into OT Group, a wholly owned subsidiary, through an absorption-type company split effective January 1, 2027. Onitsuka Tiger keeps running; it just gets its own corporate house.
Why spin off the winner
Onitsuka Tiger is not a problem ASICS is offloading. It is the crown jewel. Fiscal-2025 sales jumped 43% to 136.5 billion yen (~$850M), powered by European demand, a tourism boom in Japan, and a weak yen. The logic is speed: a standalone structure lets the brand make pricing, product, and retail calls without running them through a running-shoe company's machinery.
From running tech to lifestyle
The split formalizes what the market already decided. Onitsuka Tiger sells on heritage and design — a name reframed as a lifestyle label that sits closer to fashion than to performance running. Carving it out lets ASICS manage it like the fashion business it has become, the same instinct behind OTB taking full control of Viktor&Rolf: put the distinctive brand where it can move on its own clock.
The timeline
Completion is targeted for January 1, 2027, with OT Group serving as the global headquarters for Onitsuka Tiger.
Source: WWD
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