Amer Sports shares rise after Sports Direct buys 4.9% stake in the company

Shares of Amer Sports Oyj, the maker of Wilson tennis rackets and Atomic skis, rose after Sports Direct International Plc, Britain's biggest sporting-goods retailer, bought a 4.9 percent stake in the Finnish company.

Amer shares rose 68 cents, or 4.1 percent, to close at 17.23 euros Friday in Helsinki. They have added 3.3 percent this year, less than the 10 percent gain by the OMX Helsinki 25 Index.

Sports Direct bought the stake Thursday, the second time founder Mike Ashley has invested in a sports-equipment maker this year. The stake in Helsinki-based Amer, which has operations in Ogden, cost 58.4 million euros ($78 million) and was funded with an existing credit facility, Mansfield, England-based Sports Direct said Thursday.

Sports Direct shares have lost a third of their value since their initial public offering this year after analysts complained about a lack of information from Ashley and the retailer's chairman quit.

Adidas AG, the world's second-biggest sporting-goods maker, said in March that Ashley amassed 3 percent of the company, a stake the Financial Times has said Ashley may have sold for a 43-million-pound profit.

Amer Sports said in April that sales will fall this year and profit will miss its forecast after warm weather hurt spending on ski equipment, causing the first-quarter loss to more than quadruple.