Elliott Advisors acquires Waterstones

Kenny Wastell
26 April 2018

Tweet
Facebook
LinkedIn
Google plus
Send to

Elliott Advisors has acquired UK book retailer Waterstones from US investment firm Lynwood Investments in an all-equity transaction.

Financial details of the transaction remain undisclosed, though prior to the announcement various media reports suggested the vendor was aiming for a valuation in the region of £250-300m for the company.

Lynwood, which acquired Waterstones in a £53m turnaround deal in 2011 from trade vendor HMV, will retain a minority stake in Waterstones following the transaction.

Under the vendor's tenure, the business has opened new stores, including four in the 2016/17 financial year, and taken over the running of numerous in-store coffee shop concessions previously operated by third parties.

The transaction is expected to complete in May 2018.

Company
Founded in 1958, London-headquartered Waterstones operates 283 bookshops across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium. The business generated a turnover of £404m in the year ending April 2017, according to publicly available documents, with an operating profit of £26.6m

People
Elliott Advisors – Paul Best (head of European private equity).
Lynwood Investments – Marina Groenberg (CEO).
Waterstones – James Daunt (CEO).

Advisers
Vendor – Rothschild (corporate finance).