Findel says Sports Direct offer fails, needs higher price

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Apr 25, 2019

Sports Direct’s attempt to take over budget fashion and general merchandise retailer Findel appeared to be dead on Thursday with the takeover target saying the offer had failed to secure sufficient acceptances despite an extension of the deadline.

Valid acceptances of only 0.01% seem to have added up to a fairly convincing rejection of the 161p per share offer price. Sports Direct already held 36.84% of Findel and made a mandatory offer that was clearly not welcomed by Findel itself.

The suitor has now extended the deadline for the offer twice but it seems unlikely that acceptances will start to surge.

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Findel said that with its majority shareholder now owning only 37.83% of the company in total, “this level is not sufficient to enable Sports Direct to declare its offer unconditional as to acceptances.”

It added that the company now needs to improve the offer by next month and reiterated that the board thinks the 161p price “significantly undervalues Findel and its future prospects and strongly recommends that all shareholders take no action and reject the offer.”

It’s been a frustrating few weeks for Sports Direct boss Mike Ashley after he lost his entire almost-30% stake in Debenhams. But his company isn’t the only one being told its offer price is too low at the moment. Recently Bonmarché has told Philip Day to stump up more cash in order to be able to take the company private, and China’s Fosun has also been told by German fashion giant Tom Tailor that its offer undervalues the firm.