The private equity firm Sycamore Partners has given up on an
effort to acquire the young adult retail Express.
Shares of Express were down 15 percent in early trading on
Tuesday.
Sycamore, which owns a collection of fashion retailers, said
in June 2014 that it had bought a 9.9 percent, or 8.3 million share, stake in
Express and was interested in acquiring the whole company. The firm said last
year that it paid $106.2 million to buy its stake in Express. The retailer, a
former division of Limited Brands, had been experiencing declining
profit.
On January 20, 2015 the New
York Times (Dealbook) wrote, “After several months of talks, Sycamore said
in a terse announcement on Tuesday that it had ended its pursuit of a buyout
because it could not get deal financing on favorable terms.”
Sycamore has made a name for itself in
fashion, with deals to buy the women’s wear chain Talbots for about $400
million and the retailer Hot Topic for about $600 million. It later acquired
the Jones Group, whose brands include Nine West and Anne Klein, in a deal worth
$2.2 billion.
After ending its buyout effort, Sycamore said it was now
bound by disclosure restrictions until June 15. Express (NYSE:EXPR) said
Sycamore would be free to come back with another deal after June
15.
Learn more about
Express here on the Apparel Search fashion guide.
Learn more about Sycamore Partners at
http://www.sycamorepartners.com/