Buyout Firm Sycamore Vies to Take Nordstrom Private, Sources Say

Sycamore Companions is among the buyout fairness companies which have expressed curiosity in taking US division retailer Nordstrom non-public, in accordance with folks conversant in the matter.

Nordstrom mentioned final month that CEO Erik Nordstrom and his brother Pete, the corporate’s president, had been exploring choices to take the retailer non-public, confirming a Reuters report that had been printed in March.

Negotiations will take a number of weeks and there’s no certainty that Sycamore, which owns regional US division retailer operator Belk, or some other non-public fairness suitor will attain a deal, the sources mentioned, requesting anonymity as a result of the matter is confidential.

Sycamore declined to remark whereas representatives for Nordstrom didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

Nordstrom shares rose 6 p.c to $19.90 in afternoon buying and selling on the New York Inventory Trade on Thursday on the information, giving the corporate a market worth of about $3.3 billion. Nordstrom additionally had long-term debt of $2.9 billion as of the top of December.

Nordstrom and different US retailers have been grappling with curbs on discretionary spending by shoppers following a bout of inflation and excessive rates of interest. Macy’s Inc., one other division retailer operator, has additionally change into a takeover goal.

Nordstrom has greater than 350 shops in addition to e-commerce operations. Chief government Erik Nordstrom and different members of the Nordstrom household collectively personal a few 30 p.c stake within the Seattle-based firm.

Nordstrom fashioned a particular board committee in 2017 to think about a bid by the household to go non-public and explored a cope with a number of non-public fairness companies, together with Leonard Inexperienced. The particular committee in 2018 turned down an $8.4-billion provide as insufficient.

Since then, Erik and Pete Nordstrom have raised their stake within the firm from beneath 5 p.c to 9.5 p.c. The corporate has agreed to make any deal topic to approval by a majority of the unaffiliated shareholders.

New York-based Sycamore acquired Belk, which has practically 300 Belk shops in 16 US southeastern states, from members of its founding household in 2015 for $3 billion. It restructured Belk’s debt in 2021 following the downturn within the sector throughout the pandemic, nevertheless it retained majority management.

Sycamore additionally thought of buying different division retailer operators previously, together with Kohl’s Corp.

By Anirban Sen; Extra reporting by Abigail Summerville; Enhancing by Greg Roumeliotis and David Gregorio

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