Under Armour beefs up its European organisation

Under Armour is making its European ambitions increasingly clear. The US sports outfitter still generates the vast majority of its business in North America, but it is investing in and has beefed up its European organisation. On the pitch, Under Armour invested in players, as it did last year with Manchester United's Dutch footballer Memphis Depay, and recently by confirming its sponsorship of Southampton's Premier League football club.

In organisational terms, Under Armour has strengthened its operations. Last summer it announced the creation of an international office in Germany and now it has segmented the business in three regions.

Southern Europe includes France and all Mediterranean countries, from Greece to Portugal. The region is managed by Raphaël Lefort, which supervises the activities of the brand's staff and its distributors.

Lefort built up his career at Adidas between 1998 and 2012, notably taking charge of the group's operations in the Balkans. Between 2012 and 2016 he created and directed a company in the healthcare sector.

The other two regions consist respectively of Austria-Germany-Switzerland plus East Europe, and of the UK, Benelux and Scandinavia.

Under Armour beefs up its European organisation

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