JD Sports’ new chair buys 400,000 pounds worth of shares

JD Sports has announced that its newly appointed chairman, Andrew Higginson, has bought nearly 400,000 pounds worth of shares in the retailer.

The former Morrisons exec snapped up 292,725 for 132.67 pence and an additional 6,217 shares at 132.32 pence, bringing the total to almost 400,000 pounds.

Higginson joined JD Sports last month, taking over from Peter Cowgill who departed after the retailer faced a lengthy battle with a UK competition watchdog.

An investigation carried out by the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) looked into JD’s acquisition of competitor Footasylum, during which the CMA accused the two retailers of breaching the organisation’s order.

Ultimately, JD announced the sale of Footasylum to German investment firm Aurelius for 37.5 million pounds last week, a significant loss on the 90 million pounds it had paid for the footwear retailer.

Cowgill stepped down after reports prior to the investigation found that he had met Footasylum CEO Barry Brown on two occurrences, leading to a 4.3 million pound fine for the retailer.

JD is also under another ongoing investigation by the CMA, which has claimed it has been involved in potential price fixing for a range of football shirts.