| ||
| ||
| ||
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Debenhams bid battles heats up
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- Private equity firms CVC Capital and Texas Pacific bid an agreed £1.7 billion ($2.7 billion) cash for department store chain Debenhams on Friday, trumping rival Permira and stoking a bid battle. In the latest skirmish among British stores, coveted by venture capitalists for their real estate and reliable earnings, CVC Capital and Texas Pacific came in with an agreed 455 pence per share offer to top Permira's 425p bid made in May. Investors said they wanted more and stock in 225-year-old Debenhams leapt five percent to a two-year high of 458-1/2p. The new offer is backed by Debenhams' chief executive and independent directors but investors are predicting a fight-back from Permira, which said it was considering its position. Top five Debenhams investor Standard Life Investments said the bid "materially undervalued" the firm's medium-term prospects. "I still think 465 pence per share is a possibility should Permira choose to make a higher offer," said Isabelle Payet, analyst at brokerage ETrade Securities. Another analyst pitched the price as high as 490p per share. Founded in 1778 as Flint & Clark, a London purveyor of dry goods and clothing, Debenhams prospered through the 19th century and counted Queen Victoria among its customers. It now has 102 department stores across Britain and Ireland. Debenhams and rivals such as Selfridges and House of Fraser have attracted bid interest as financiers take advantage of cheap borrowing costs to buy companies rich in property assets that generate a lot of cash. Debenhams revalued its property assets for the first time in eight years in June pushing up the value of the company. Its real estate now appears on its books at over £440 million up from 334 million in 1995. Debenhams recommended the £1.54 billion bid approach from UK-based Permira in July to avoid paying an agreed six million pound compensation. But it left the way open for a possible higher bid from private equity firms CVC and Texas Pacific Group, stressing it was still talking to them about a rival deal.
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
