Kohl’s may before long have another proprietor. Kohl’s (KSS) said late Monday that it had gone into a three-week elite negotiation period for a likely sale with Franchise Group (FRG), a holding organization which possesses The Vitamin Shoppe and other retail brands.
Franchise Group has proposed to purchase Kohl’s for $60 an offer. Kohl’s stock closed at $42.12 on Monday and rose 10% during early trading Tuesday on the news.
The deal would value Kohl’s at around $8 billion, The Wall Street Journal revealed, 5 times more than it was worth last week.
Kohl’s said that during the negotiation period there were no assurances a deal would be reached.
The department store has drawn the consideration of an activist investor and an array of bidders. A deal would end a grinding, year-long saga between Kohl’s and some Wall Street investors over the organization’s future.
What’s happening at Kohl’s?
With in excess of 1,100 US stores and around $19 billion in annual sales, Kohl’s is the biggest department store chain in the United States.
Yet, the whole department store sector has been in structural decay for years against tension from Amazon, developing enormous box chains that incorporate Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT) and rebate clothing stores like TJMaxx. Organizations, for example, Sears, JCPenney, Neiman Marcus, Barney’s and others have filed for bankruptcy in recent years.
Department stores including Kohl’s have been undermined on costs by discount players from the bottom, and esteem by luxury stores at the top.
The organization has attempted a handful of approaches to deal with attract clients and fight off contenders, yet the techniques have not prompted significant upgrades at Kohl’s.
