Elliott's Waterstones bolts on Foyles

The transaction comes five months after Elliott acquired Waterstones from US investment firm Lynwood Investments in an all-equity transaction reportedly valued at £250-300m.

The newly acquired business will continue to operate under its existing brand, according to a statement issued by the vendor. Foyles CEO Paul Currie and financial director John Browne will leave the company following the deal.

Waterstone's managing director James Daunt said in a statement that the consolidated business would be better placed to "protect and champion the pleasures of real bookshops in the face of Amazon's siren call".

The transaction is scheduled to complete by the end of 2018.

Company
Founded in 1903, Foyles is a book retailer with four London stores and three additional shops in Bristol, Birmingham and Chelmsford. Foyles generated EBITDA of £490,000 from a turnover of £26.6m in the year ending in June 2017, according to publicly available documents.

People
Elliott Advisors – Paul Best (head of European private equity).
Waterstones – James Daunt (managing director).

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