Pursuits
Esprit’s 68% Discount Signals Cheapest Apparel Buyout: Real M&A
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No apparel retailer in the world is offering potential buyers a bigger discount on a billion-dollar deal than Esprit Holdings Ltd.
Once a $20 billion company, Esprit plummeted more than 90 percent in the past four years as Hennes & Mauritz AB and Inditex SA’s Zara lured away customers and prompted the retailer to say its brand “lost its soul.” Esprit, valued at just $1.4 billion yesterday, sold for 32 cents per dollar of revenue, cheaper than any apparel company after falling to its lowest valuation this week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Today, the stock surged the most in almost three years.