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The Macy’s department store, an icon of shopping in New York, finds a takeover under the Christmas tree worth almost 6 billion dollars.
An offer you can’t refuse
The store chain’s stock gains more than 16% on Wall Street, around $20 per share, after the company received a takeover offer from Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital for $5.8 billion. The two investors would acquire the shares they do not yet own for 21 dollars each, with a premium of 20.76% compared to the 17.39 dollars of last Friday’s closing. The Christmas rally, however, should not be misleading: the stock is down by around 17% since the beginning of the year, with a capitalization that has fallen to 4.77 billion dollars.
At the stock market peak, almost ten years ago, the stock reached 70 dollars. Arkhouse Management, a real estate-focused investment firm, and Brigade Capital Management, a global asset manager, already own a large stake in Macy’s.
More than a climb, a rescue
The proposal comes at a bad time for the New York department store chain, which closed the third quarter with net revenues of $4.8 billion, down 7% from last year but in line with expectations of management. EBITDA stood at $312 million, a slowdown of 20% compared to the first nine months of 2022.
The move by the two investors would be aimed at removing Macy’s from the stock exchange and bringing it back into private hands: the company was listed 30 years ago, in 1992.