Clothing
retailer
Superdry
is
in
talks
to
take
itself
private.
On
Friday
Sky
News
reported
that
Rcapital
and
Gordon
Brothers
have
held
initial
talks
about
a
bid,
which
would
remove
the
company’s
shares
from
the
London
Stock
Exchange.
Shares
in
the
Cheltenham-headquartered
company
more
than
doubled
on
Friday
to
46.15p
each
in
London.
However,
over
the
last
12
months
the
stock
has
plummeted
63%.
On
Wednesday
this
week
regulatory
filings
were
published
showing
that
Norwegian-based
investment
fund
First
Seagull
had
purchased
a
5.3%
stake
in
the
company.
On
Friday,
The
Times also
reported
that
First
Seagull
considers
it
“to
be
ripe
for
a
bid.”
The
newspaper
added
that
Sycamore
Partners,
an
American
private
equity
company,
and
Authentic
Brands
Group,
which
owns
Ted
Baker
and
Forever
21,
are
said
to
have
Superdry
on
their
radars.
“It’s
just
a
matter
of
time
before
there’s
an
offer,”
a
source
told The
Times.
This
has
progressed
takeover
rumours
for
Superdry.
What
Has
Superdry
Said
About
The
Reports
Following
the
article
on
Friday,
Superdry
responded
to
the
share
price
movement.
Superdry
Chief
Executive
Julian
Dunkerton
confirmed
that
he
is
in
discussions
with
potential
financing
partners.
This
could
include
a
possible
cash
offer
for
the
entire
issued
and
to-be-
issued
share
capital
of
the
company,
not
already
owned
by
him.
“These
discussions
are
at
a
preliminary
stage
and
no
decisions
have
been
made,”
Superdry
said.
“The
transaction
committee
has
provided
limited
additional
information
to
Julian
Dunkerton
and
the
potential
sponsors
to
facilitate
further
exploration
of
a
possible
offer
for
the
company.
There
can
be
no
certainty
that
an
offer
will
be
made,
nor
as
to
the
terms
on
which
any
such
offer
might
be
made.”
After
market
close
on
Friday,
Sky
News
reported
that
Rcapital
and
Gordon
Brothers
have
held
initial
talks
with
chief
executive
Julian
Dunkerton
about
a
bid
to
take
Superdry
private.
Both
specialise
in
investments
in
financially
challenged
companies.
“The
talks
are
not
yet
at
an
advanced
stage
and
people
close
to
them
cautioned
that
they
may
yet
fall
apart,”
Sky
News
said.
What
is
Superdry’s
Financial
Performance?
Last
week,
Superdry
released
its
interim
results,
saying
challenging
markets
and
poor
weather
had
hurt
earnings.
The
company
also
is
set
to
lose
another
finance
chief
in
March.
The
retailer
posted
£219.8
million
in
revenue
for
the
six
months
to
October
28,
down
24%
from
£287.2
million
a
year
prior.
It
swung
to
a
pre-tax
profit
of
£3.3
million
from
a
loss
of
£17.7
million
on
a
statutory
basis,
but
its
adjusted
pretax
loss
widened
to
£25.3
million
from
£13.6
million.
It
also
announced
the
replacement
of
its
chief
financial
officer.
Shaun
Wills
will
step
down
after
three
years
with
the
company
on
March
31.
Giles
Davis
has
been
appointed
interim
chief
financial
officer.
Come
April,
Davis
will
be
Superdry’s
fifth
chief
finance
officer
in
as
many
years.
By
Sophie
Rose,
Alliance
News
senior
reporter
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