Perry Ellis gets sweetened buyout offer from Randa

Perry Ellis International Inc said on Friday men’s fashion accessories maker Randa had raised its offer for the company to $458.6 million that could result in a superior proposal.

Randa’s latest proposal is another attempt by the company to scuttle Perry Ellis’ previously agreed upon deal with its second-largest shareholder George Feldenkreis, who is seeking to buy the company for $27.50 per share, or $437 million.

Privately held Randa Accessories’ offer of $28.90 per share is 90 cents higher that its previous offer, which valued the company at $444 million.

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Perry Ellis said its special committee looking into the deals found that Randa’s offer was reasonably expected to be a superior proposal as it was at a 5.1 percent premium to Feldenkreis’ bid.

Randa’s new financing plans also appeared reasonably capable of execution, giving it sufficient cushion to execute the deal, Perry Ellis said in a regulatory filing.

Perry Ellis had rejected Randa’s previous offer, saying the proposal was “highly conditional, nonbinding and insufficient in terms of value and certainty of the provided debt financing commitments, as well as the lack of evidence of sufficient cash equity on hand.”

With the latest offer, Perry Ellis said it would now commence talks with Randa and grant it due diligence access, as long as it was on its terms.

However, the company said there was no assurance that these discussions would lead to any transaction with Randa and that it continues to back Feldenkreis’ merger agreement.

Randa’s new offer is at a 4 percent premium to Perry Ellis’ Thursday close. The stock was up 5 percent at $29.18 in early trading on Friday. Randa was not immediately available for comment.