Fashion house SMCP's bondholders expect initial bids for their stake by mid-May -sources (updated)
26/04/2023 03:21
(Adds SMCP response, share movement)
By Kane Wu
HONG KONG, April 25 (Reuters) - Bondholders in French
fashion group SMCP SMCP.PA , the owner of labels such as Sandro
and Maje, are expecting first-round, non-binding bids for their
37% stake in the company by mid-May, said two people with
knowledge of the transaction.
The bondholders, which include asset manager BlackRock and
private equity firm Carlyle CG.O , appointed investment bank
Lazard Freres to advise on the sale that kicked off in March.
The 37% stake is worth around 227 million euros ($251
million) based on SMCP's market value of 613.8 million euros at
Monday's close. The company's shares rose 2.57% on Tuesday.
Potential buyers include private equity funds and other
fashion retailers, said one of the people, who declined to be
identified as the information is confidential.
The interested parties are taking into consideration that
their acquisition of the stake would trigger a general takeover
of the entire company and therefore are assessing the deal on
that basis, the person added.
Rothschild & Co is advising SMCP in the sale, the company
said in March.
Alastair Beveridge and Daniel Imison of AlixPartners, which
is acting as an intermediary for the bondholders, did not
respond to a request for comment.
SMCP referred Reuters queries about the sale to
AlixPartners, which they said is in charge of the process.
Neither Lazard nor Rothschild responded to requests for comment.
The bondholders became equity owners in the French company
after European TopSoho, a unit of Shandong Ruyi 002193.SZ ,
failed to meet a debt obligation of 250 million euros ($265.95
million) exchangeable for shares in SMCP in 2021.
The Chinese conglomerate, which embarked on a buying spree
in 2015, acquiring labels including Aquascutum, Cerruti 1881 and
Savile Row tailor Gieves & Hawkes, sought to build an empire to
rival that of luxury behemoth LVMH LVMH.PA , but struggled
under the debt of its purchases.
SMCP reported 1.2 billion euros in sales for 2022, up 16.1%
year-on-year, and 266.6 million euros in adjusted earnings
before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, up 8.5%
from 2021.
(Reporting by Kane Wu; Editing by Sharon Singleton and
Christopher Cushing)
((kane.wu@thomsonreuters.com; +85228436590; Reuters Messaging:
kane.wu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))