Reebok to lay off 150 employees ahead of its acquisition with Authentic Brands Group (ABG) after a 15-year-old long association with Adidas. The acquisition is set to be completed by the 28th of February, after which the lay-offs will take effect.
The layoffs are being carried out to make Reebok more suitable to the culture and working model of ABG.
This M&A deal comes after Adidas had failed to make the brand of Reebok profitable despite working on it for over a decade. ABG will focus on expanding Reebok into the markets of Europe and North America.
Historically mega-corporate mergers have always left employees, especially in the rank-and-file to dust. When an organization acquires another one in the same industry, there are often overlaps in many job roles such as admin staff, catering employees, and IT support staff.
While M&D deals are mostly considered as joyous occasions, leading to improved finances, enhanced efficiency through removal of any duplications of services and roles, this is also accompanied by mass lay-offs in the name of cutting costs and enhancing productivity.
The management needs to make layoff as humane and painless as possible by encouraging transparent communication and generous severance terms.