According to recent reports, the Nordstrom family has joined forces with Mexican department store chain El Puerto de Liverpool in a $3.8 billion proposal to take the Nordstrom department store chain private. The board of directors at Nordstrom, Inc. confirmed that they have received this offer and will be reviewing it through a special committee.
The bid of $23 per share for the company’s stock represents a small increase from Tuesday’s closing price. The Seattle-based retailer stated that this merger would be funded by both rollover equity and cash commitments from members of the Nordstrom family and Liverpool, as well as an additional $250 million in bank financing while still maintaining their current debt.
This takeover is being led by Erik and Pete Nordstrom, great-grandsons of John Nortdstrom who founded the company, serving as CEO and president respectively for Nordstom Inc., Bloomberg News reported. This move comes during a time when many executives within the department store industry are looking for solutions to address ongoing struggles within their sector; earlier this year activist investors attempted but failed to take Macy’s Inc.private while HBC announced plans in July to acquire Neiman Marcus Group with co-investors Amazon and Salesforce.
Bloomberg also reported on another attempt made back in 2018 where there was an offer made at $50 per share which was ultimately declined by shareholders.The latest projections show modest growth potential for fiscal year 2024 with same-store sales expected not exceed more than 1.9%, however there has been success seen within its discount banner known as “Nordstorm Rack”. Plans have been set out already open up twenty-one new stores under this name before late-2025; currently three times larger than its full-priced counterparts.
Morgan Stanley along side Centerview Partners are acting financial advisors towards overseeing operations between both parties involved whilst Sidley Austin LLP & Perkins Coie LLP act legal counsel throughout these proceedings.
