Castro Model (TASE: CAST) announced this morning that it had signed a franchise agreement with Chinese company Anta Sports Products to distribute and sell the brand in Israel. The agreement is for five years. It includes a license for wholesale distribution, the opening of stores dedicated to the brand, and setting up a local website. The investment in the move is estimated at NIS 30 million, and the activity is expected to begin in the course of 2027.
Castro is examining the possibility of bringing in partners to the venture to hold up to 49% of the special subsidiary that was set up to sign the agreement with the Chinese sports goods giant. At the same time, the company is negotiating leases on sale points and is setting up infrastructure and hiring workers. At the end of the five-year period Castro will have the right to extend the agreement, subject to meeting targets set out in it.
Anta is one of the largest sports goods companies in China. It is traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange at a market cap of $26 billion. It operates more than 10,000 stores in China and has some 250 sale points outside of China. Its revenue in 2025 totaled $11.6 billion. The company controls Finnish company Amer Sports, under which it has brands such as Salomon, Arc’teryx, Wilson, and Peak Performance. Earlier this year, Anta announced the acquisition of 29% of Puma, which makes it the largest shareholder in the German sports shoes company.
For Castro Model, this is another step in its efforts to expand its activity beyond its core local fashion business into sport and lifestyle, branches that have grown considerably in Israel in recent years but which have also become more crowded and competitive. Anta Sports will compete in Israel with established players such as Nike, controlled by Castro rival Fox, Adidas, controlled by Electra Consumer Products and the Salkind family, and Decathlon, together with parallel imports and cheaper brands that put pressure on prices.
Castro’s main challenge will be to make a success of a Chinese brand that is little known to Israeli consumers. The investment in the stores, in an online presence, and wholesale distribution are just the beginning, and the test will be whether Anta will succeed in creating genuine differentiation in Israel in price, design, and performance.
This investment comes after the Castro group’s problematic first quarter results. For its part, Fox has seen a downturn in the performance of Nike in Israel. Still, an agreement on this scale is presumably part of a broad strategic plan, and not just a reaction to a difficult quarter.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on July 6, 2026.
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