Advent launches takeover offer for Douglas

Advent is offering €38 per share. This is a significant 41.6% premium over the €26.83 four-week volume weighted average price of Douglas's shares prior to the emergence of takeover rumours on 11 January 2012 – but Advent's anticipated offer sent the company's stock price soaring, with Douglas shares trading at €37.44 prior to today's formal announcement.

The GP had circled the company for close to a year and reportedly beat off competition from fellow large-cap players BC Partners, Apax and Permira.

Advent has already secured a 50.5% stake in Douglas from major shareholders the Kreke family, Oetker and Müller. The Kreke family will own a 20% stake in Douglas's new holding company.

The GP's main objective is to accelerate the growth of Douglas's perfume and jewellery division. The company will meanwhile actively pursue the restructuring and strategic repositioning of its struggling bookshop business Thalia. The current positioning of the fashion and confectionery divisions will be maintained.

Debt
Park Square Capital arranged a mezzanine tranche to support the acquisition.

Company
The Douglas retail group operates five retail divisions: Douglas perfumeries, Thalia bookstores, Christ jewellery stores, AppelrathCüpper fashion stores and Hussel confectioneries.

It generates annual sales in excess of €3bn and expects EBITDA for the 2011/2012 financial year to sit at the lower end of the €200-250m range. This is down from an EBITDA of 292.9m in the previous fiscal year, a dip largely blamed on the continued trading difficulties experienced by Douglas's book business Thalia.

Douglas is based in Hagen and employs more than 24,000 people.

People
Ralf Huep and Ranjan Sen worked on the deal for Advent.

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• Topics
• DACH
• Buyouts
• Consumer
• Germany
• Take Private
• Advent International