Sports Direct to buy JJB Sports stores Sports Direct is set to buy up to 60 JJB Sports, safeguarding at least 1,000 jobs at the struggling chain. The retailer, controlled by Newcastle United football club owner Mike Ashley, will buy the stores, amounting to one-third of JJB's estate, for £30m. It will take control of 20 stores straightaway, with the acquisition of the remaining 40 subject to approval from the UK competition authority. Sports Direct is already the UK's largest sportswear and equipment retailer. If agreed the deal would save between 1,000 and 1,500 jobs at JJB. There could still be significant job losses at the chain, which employs more than 4,000 staff across 180 outlets. The sale is likely to take the form of a pre-pack administration - the pre-negotiated sale of an insolvent business. Sports Direct has been the frontrunner to acquire some of JJB's estate, after it said on Monday that it could collapse into administration. JJB said at the end of August that it had asked KPMG to explore a sale of its assets after it failed to secure enough funding to embark on a turnround - and warned that its shares might be worthless. The deal comes despite a last-minute hurdle as Adidas, one of JJB's biggest suppliers, disputed the price at which Sports Direct would take JJB's Adidas stock under an administration, according to people familiar with the situation. Sports Direct declined to comment. KPMG and Adidas could not be reached for comment. JJB's last set of full-year results revealed like-for-like sales had fallen 13.1 per cent in the 12 months to the end of January, leading to a pre-tax loss of £101.1m. The retailer has undergone two company voluntary arrangements (CVAs) to shrink its store portfolio, as well as tapping its shareholders for cash several times in the past three years. The group had net debt of £16.5m at August 28, down slightly from £17.7m in July, against existing banking facilities of £25m. Shares in Sports Direct were up 0.86 per cent to 343.9p in midday trading.