Sycamore Partners have expressed interest in Aeropostale, the teen retailer that has recently been dealing with low profits and missed targets when it comes to today’s youth culture. As we note in our 13th Annual Fall Youth Culture Study, released yesterday September 16, the brand had been out of sync with the marketplace for some time and its stock is reflecting this. Today, September 17, 2013, Sycamore said though it’s holding 8% of Aeropostale, they are open to all types of negotiations for obtaining the brand, stating that the stock is an “attractive investment” for their portfolio. The discussion points include things such as changing the board, managers, or even selling parts of the company. Sycamore, it should be noted, bought Hot Topic earlier this year for $600 million and Talbots for $675 million in 2011. For Hot Topic, when the purchase happened their stock increased to a 30% premium. On word that Sycamore is interested in Aeropostale, shares went up 17% to $10.10. Stay tuned for more news about the potential buyout shortly.
