Aimed at building a transparent and ethical apparel supply chain in the Americas, Nike Inc has entered into a new strategic partnership with private equity firm Apollo Global Management, LLC. Through the partnership, the company aims to increase its regional manufacturing capabilities, enable quicker delivery of more customized product to consumers and drive investment in sustainability. To establish the partnership, Apollo has established a new apparel supply chain company that has been acquiring existing apparel suppliers in North and Central America. It plans to invest in advancing their manufacturing operations and expertise to produce innovative, technical and customized apparel.

To broaden and diversify its capabilities and product offerings, the new company also expects to acquire additional textile and apparel suppliers in the Americas. This will create a more vertically integrated apparel eco-system from materials suppliers and apparel manufacturers to final embellishment, warehousing and logistics.

While the terms of agreements have not been disclosed, Apollo said that the new supply chain company has already acquired two businesses to form the cornerstone of this strategy: the apparel manufacturer, New Holland; and the embellishment, warehousing and logistics operator, ArtFX. The investment is made by the Apollo-managed Special Situations I fund.

This isn’t Nike’s first move to create ‘the supply chain of the future’. Last May, the sportswear giant unveiled the latest expansion of its European Logistics Campus in Belgium. The expansion will make Nike’s European operations more efficient, responsive and sustainable and would enable its growth by serving consumers across Nike.com, as well as its retail and wholesale partners in 38 countries, all from a single inventory location.