Sycamore Partners Refuses to Give Up on Ted Baker
LONDON — After a string of rejections, Sycamore Partners isn’t giving up on Ted Baker.
The New York-based investor will take part in a formal sale process announced earlier this month, Ted Baker confirmed on Wednesday.
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As reported, Ted Baker has put itself up for sale amid mounting interest in the company, including three previous offers by Sycamore, all of which were rejected because the price was too low.
The deal-hungry Sycamore first offered 1.30 pounds a share, and then returned with 1.38 pounds. Ted Baker did not confirm the value of the third offer, although the high-street retailer described it as “improved.”
Ted Baker also confirmed there was “other, unsolicited third-party bid interest,” although it did not specify who the other suitors were.
Shares in Ted Baker were up 5 percent to 1.55 pounds in early-morning trading on Wednesday following the announcement about Sycamore’s continued interest. They closed up 3.3 percent at 1.53 pounds.
The board of Ted Baker said earlier this month that it is “focused on maximizing value for shareholders,” and would be conducting “an orderly process to establish whether there is a bidder prepared to offer a value that the board considers attractive, relative to the stand-alone prospects of Ted Baker as a listed company.”
Ted Baker has set in motion a “targeted,” multiphase sales process, “focused on those parties who understand and value the full potential of this unique brand.” The company said anyone interested in making an offer can contact its financial advisers, Evercore and Blackdown Partners.
Per U.K. stock market regulations, Sycamore had until April 15 to make a final, firm offer for Ted Baker, or abandon its pursuit of the company. Sycamore’s original, unsolicited offers spurred Ted Baker to put itself up for sale.
The sale process comes on the heels of a difficult few years for Ted Baker.
Following founder Ray Kelvin’s resignation amid staff complaints about inappropriate physical contact (which Kelvin always denied), the company went on to face a series of crises.
It posted a string of profit warnings and suffered accounting and management troubles. Under the new CEO Rachel Osborne, the company has been making improvements and is due to report its year-end results in May.
In the 2021 fiscal year, Ted Baker reported 352 million pounds in revenue, an operating loss of 98.9 pounds, and an after-tax loss of 86.4 million pounds.
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