TLDR
- Asics confirmed it will spin off Onitsuka Tiger into a wholly owned subsidiary called OT Group, effective January 1
- Asics stock jumped nearly 4% to 4,588 yen in Tokyo trade following the announcement, outperforming the broader market
- No IPO is planned for OT Group, according to Asics CEO Yasuhito Hirota
- Onitsuka Tiger will re-enter the U.S. market with a Los Angeles flagship store opening in February 2027
- Onitsuka Tiger posted a 38% profit margin in 2025, the highest of any Asics category, with sales up 43% year-on-year
Asics has officially confirmed it will spin off its Onitsuka Tiger brand into a new wholly owned subsidiary called OT Group, with the company split effective January 1. The news sent Asics stock up nearly 4% to 4,588 yen in Tokyo trade, easily outpacing a 1.2% drop in the Nikkei 225.
The move is designed to speed up decision-making for a brand that has become one of Asics’ biggest profit drivers. Asics CEO Yasuhito Hirota confirmed at a press conference that there are no plans to take OT Group public.
Onitsuka Tiger posted sales of 136.5 billion yen ($851 million) in 2025, a 43% jump from the year before. The brand carried a profit margin of nearly 38% — the highest across Asics’ five core business categories. That performance has helped drive four straight years of record profit for the parent company.
Asics stock has risen roughly sevenfold over the past five years, giving it a market cap of around $20 billion.
Why the Spinoff Makes Sense
Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ ESmart Securities, put it plainly: “As organisations grow too large, decision-making often slows as approvals become more layered and time-consuming. So a spin-off is an ideal move for such fast-growing companies.”
Ryoji Shoda, named as the new CEO of OT Group, pointed to a specific pain point that led to Onitsuka Tiger’s U.S. withdrawal in 2023. He cited a clash between Asics America management and the Onitsuka Tiger team over creative direction.
“There was a lot of difficulty in reaching a consensus over how we looked at fashion and sport,” Shoda said. “By splitting off the company we can manage various issues from headquarters in Japan.”
Re-entering the U.S. and Expanding Globally
Onitsuka Tiger’s return to the U.S. will begin with a flagship store in Los Angeles, set to open in February. In Japan, the brand is opening its largest-ever flagship in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district on July 10, followed by Nagoya in August. Flagship stores in Shanghai, Milan, and Seoul are also planned before September.
The brand has benefited from a global wave of interest in retro sneaker designs. Strong sales have come from European demand, inbound tourism to Japan, and a weaker yen. K-pop group TWICE member Momo serves as the brand’s ambassador, and the brand still draws cultural cachet from Uma Thurman’s yellow-and-black Tai-chi sneakers in Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 film “Kill Bill.”
In February, Asics forecast a fifth consecutive year of record profit for 2026.
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