Today, April 2, 2013, Billabong again asked for a halt in trading while confirming that the two take-over bids are still in review and plans for a big announcement are to be made this week.
The ongoing drama for the surf and action sports brand has been brutal. In January, VF and Altamont Capital Partners submitted a letter of interest to Billabong International Limited and from what we’ve counted, this is the 4th time a bid’s come in for Billabong (just at the same time a few months ago when President Paul Naude stepped aside to set-up a deal for buying the brand as well).
Paul Naude’s deal is with Sycamore Partners and is the second group in the bidding process. Apparently, according to a recent story from Reuters, the two offers are matching at around $549 million. The stock has lost nearly two thirds of its value and hit an all-time low last month.
If VF Corp gets Billabong, they are only interested in the Billabong brand and plan to turn-over Von Zipper and Element to Altamont Partners.
According to Billabong today, “discussions in relation to these proposals remain incomplete.” And therefore, they have put in for a halt in trading once again.
The deadline for the two offers was last week, but Billabong says they will have an announcement later this week.
For information on where Billabong stands in terms of preferences among youth culture and fashion brands, contact us about our Spring Youth Culture Study 2013.
