Who Owns Puma? Israel Sponsorship Explained

Puma is not an Israeli company, and no Israeli entity owns or controls Puma. Puma SE is a German sportswear manufacturer based in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, founded in 1948 by Rudolf Dassler. Puma's Israel connection was a local licensing deal and a national team kit sponsorship that ended in December 2024.

Who owns Puma?

Puma SE trades on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the ticker PUM. Rudolf Dassler founded Puma in 1948 after splitting from his brother Adolf, who went on to found Adidas. The two brothers built rival sportswear companies in the same Bavarian town, and that rivalry shaped the sportswear industry for decades.

Kering, the French luxury group that also owns Gucci and Saint Laurent, built a controlling stake in Puma starting in 2007. Kering's stake reached roughly 86% of Puma's shares at its peak. In 2018, Kering spun Puma off as an independently traded company, distributing most of its shares to Kering's own shareholders. Groupe Artemis, the holding company of France's Pinault family, received most of that distribution and also controls Kering directly.

Puma's ownership has changed again since the 2018 spinoff. Puma reported a net loss of about 357 million euros for fiscal 2025, on an 8.1% currency-adjusted sales decline, a period the company called a reset year. Anta Sports, China's largest sportswear company, agreed in January 2026 to buy Artemis's 29.06% stake in Puma for about 1.5 billion euros. That deal makes Anta the largest shareholder in Puma. Anta stated it has no current plans for a full takeover, and the deal is expected to close by the end of 2026, pending regulatory approval.

The following month, UK retailer Mike Ashley's Frasers Group disclosed a 5.77% stake in Puma, built largely through derivatives. That stake made Frasers Group the second largest shareholder. T. Rowe Price and BlackRock also hold significant positions in Puma. No Israeli entity appears among Puma's disclosed major shareholders.

What was Puma's connection to Israel?

Puma has never been Israeli owned, and Puma's presence in Israel ran through third party licensees rather than Puma operated stores. Delta Galil Industries, a publicly traded Israeli apparel manufacturer, took over Puma's marketing, distribution and retail operations in Israel in 2016.

Delta Galil is best known in Europe for a separate holding: the German heritage brand Schiesser, which Delta Galil bought in 2012 for 68 million euros and still owns today. That Schiesser ownership is unrelated to the Puma license, but it shows how Delta Galil operates across multiple markets as both a licensee and a brand owner in its own right.

Delta Galil's Puma contract expired at the end of 2020. Al Srad Ltd., part of the Irani Corporation, succeeded Delta Galil as the Israeli licensee. Al Srad holds licenses for a number of other brands sold in Israel.

Puma's relationship with both licensees is publicly disputed rather than settled. Advocacy organizations, including the BDS movement and the American Friends Service Committee, say both companies have had commercial ties to Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Puma has stated that its Israeli licensees do not operate branches in settlements and that Puma has no other connection to any Israeli football club. Both positions remain contested, and no independent, non-advocacy verification is available for either claim.

What was the IFA sponsorship, and why did it end?

Puma became the kit sponsor of the Israel Football Association in 2018, taking over after Adidas ended its own IFA sponsorship that year. Adidas exited following a letter from more than 200 Palestinian sports clubs objecting to the IFA's inclusion of teams based in West Bank settlements.

In December 2023, Puma told the Financial Times, and later other outlets including TIME, that Puma would not renew its IFA contract when it expired at the end of 2024. A Puma spokesperson said the decision had been made in late 2022, as part of a broader review of Puma's national team sponsorship roster that also ended Puma's deal with Serbia's federation. Puma stated the decision was unrelated to the war in Gaza that began in October 2023.

The sponsorship ended on its scheduled date, December 31, 2024. Errea, a smaller Italian kit maker, became the IFA's new sponsor starting January 1, 2025.

Independent reporting from outlets including Al Jazeera and Ethical Consumer noted that Puma had faced a sustained boycott campaign over the IFA sponsorship since 2018. The timing of Puma's announcement, roughly a year ahead of the contract's actual expiration, drew comment from observers on both sides. Puma maintains its decision was strategic and unrelated to that pressure. Boycott campaigners have credited their own efforts for the outcome. Both claims about causation are disputed, and neither has independent confirmation.

How does Puma's Israel exposure compare to other brands?

Puma's Israel exposure was always indirect: a licensee relationship and a since-ended federation sponsorship, not equity ownership or a company headquarters. That distinguishes Puma's case from brands that are directly Israeli-owned, such as Schiesser, which Delta Galil has owned outright since 2012. Delta Galil's overlapping role as both a former Puma licensee and a current German brand owner is one reason Puma is sometimes mistaken for an Israeli company, when the actual chain of ownership runs entirely through French, British, American and Chinese shareholders.

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