Japan's Asics announced on June 10, 2026, plans to spin off its popular Onitsuka Tiger sneaker brand into a wholly owned subsidiary called OT Group, effective January 1, 2027 [1, 2, 3]. The restructuring will involve separating Onitsuka Tiger's regional subsidiaries and consolidating them under OT Group [2, 3, 4].
The Onitsuka Tiger brand, established in 1949 by Kihachiro Onitsuka and named after the tiger symbolizing strength and agility, is nearly 80 years old [1, 5]. It gained renewed global fame after being featured in Quentin Tarantino's 2003 film Kill Bill, worn by actress Uma Thurman [2, 3, 4]. Onitsuka Tiger has been a key growth driver for Asics, posting four consecutive years of record profits with a profit margin near 38%, the highest among Asics' core product categories [1, 4, 6, 5].
Sales of Onitsuka Tiger jumped 43% year-on-year to approximately 136.5 billion yen (about $851 million) in the fiscal year ending December 2025 [1, 4, 5]. In the first quarter of 2026, net sales rose 34% to 37.8 billion yen (about $236 million) [2, 3].
Asics' shares rose nearly 2% on the announcement day, June 10, and have gained roughly 20% so far in 2026. The company's market value has grown about sevenfold over the past five years to nearly $20 billion [1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 5].
Asics aims to speed up decision-making and enhance Onitsuka Tiger's competitiveness by making it more independent. Tatsunori Kawai, chief strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ ESmart Securities, said, "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" [1]. Shoichi Arisawa of Iwai Cosmo Securities called the move "a positive development" allowing more flexible strategies [2].
OT Group CEO Ryoji Shoda said expanding with flagship stores will address ongoing constraints from customer traffic congestion in existing stores. He revealed plans to open a large flagship in Tokyo's Shinjuku district on July 10, 2026, followed by stores in Nagoya, Milan, Seoul, Los Angeles, and Shanghai over the coming year [6, 5]. Shoda also noted difficulties reconciling views on fashion versus sports positioning, causing Onitsuka Tiger's withdrawal from the U.S. market in 2023 and said the spin-off lets them directly manage such issues from Japan and restart in America [5].
Onitsuka Tiger closed North American retail stores in 2023 to improve profitability but opened a flagship store in Paris in 2025 [2, 3, 4, 5]. In 2022, the brand appointed TWICE member Momo as brand ambassador [5].
Asics CEO Yasuhito Hirota confirmed there are no plans to list OT Group publicly [6]. The deal does not require regulatory approval [4].
The spin-off is set for January 1, 2027, with OT Group expected to focus on expanding flagship stores globally, starting with Tokyo's Shinjuku in July 2026 [6, 5].
