Juicy Couture owner scoops up UK’s Ted Baker for about $254 million

By Pushkala Aripaka

(Reuters) -Juicy Couture and Perpetually 21 proprietor Genuine Manufacturers (ABG) has agreed to purchase Ted Baker in a deal price roughly 211 million kilos ($254 million), ending months of hypothesis over the destiny of the British vogue group.

Pandemic-related losses pressured Ted Baker to place itself up on the market in April and the corporate picked a most well-liked suitor the next month. Nevertheless, the bidder – reported to have been ABG – in June determined to not make a proposal, forcing Ted Baker to contemplate different choices.

Ted Baker has now reached an settlement with U.S.-based ABG, whose manufacturers additionally embrace Reebok, consisting of 110 pence money for every Ted Baker share, and which represents a premium of about 18.2% to Monday’s closing value.

The businesses stated the deal wouldn’t be revised except a rival suitor emerges.

“ABG believes there are important development alternatives for the Ted Baker model in North America given (its) … sturdy client recognition on this market,” the New York-listed firm stated in an announcement on Tuesday.

Identified for its fits, shirts and clothes with quirky particulars, Ted Baker is within the midst of a turnaround plan and is trying to profit from a rebound in demand for workplace and leisure put on.

In Might it posted a smaller annual lack of 38.4 million kilos and stated gross sales within the first quarter of the present yr had risen 20% year-on-year.

Ted Baker had additionally rejected a number of bids from private-equity group Sycamore earlier than launching its sale course of, and Tuesday’s transfer is the most recent in a flurry of offers for British corporations, made extra inexpensive to abroad consumers by the weak spot of the pound.

Ted Baker’s shares had been up about 17% at 108p in early buying and selling, simply shy of the provide value and nonetheless nicely in need of their peak in 2015 once they had been buying and selling at 2,972p apiece.

($1 = 0.8299 kilos)

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Modifying by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and David Holmes)