Arena lined up for Swiss sale Swimwear brand Arena, which sponsors GB Olympian Francesca Halsall, is expected to be sold by the private equity group, Riverside Company, to Swiss-based Capvis. Arena was started in 1973 by Horst Dassler, the son of the founder of Adidas and nephew of the founder of Puma. The performance swimwear company, which has businesses in 103 countries, was sold in 1990 by Adidas. Riverside acquired the company in 2010 from BS Private Equity. At the time of that sale, the group disclosed £100m in annual sales. Riverside has since rolled out the brand into the US and launched an online platform. At this year's FINA World Championships in Barcelona, just under half of all medal winners wore Arena swimsuits. The competitive swimming world has faced scrutiny over the use of full-body polyurethane suits that reduce drag in the water. In May, Arena launched a recall of its women's Powerskin brand swimsuits after they were found to not comply with FINA rules.