Talbots Agrees to Lower Buyout Offer

In what is probably just a sign of how badly managed the company has been, The Talbots Inc. (NYSE: TLB) agreed today to a $2.75/share buyout by private equity group Sycamore Partners. Talbots turned down an offer of $3/share in January, and just last Friday Sycamore walked away from a sweetened offer of $3.05/share.

But even at $2.75/share, that’s a premium of more than 100% to Talbots’ closing price last night of $1.29. The total value of the deal, including Sycamore’s assumption of Talbots’ debt, is about $369 million.

Some people at Talbots must have had an epiphany since last week. Something along the lines of “We must have been delirious to let Sycamore get away.” So the private equity firm got a 10% discount and Talbots shareholders were treated to a last hurrah from the company’s awful management team.

Shares are up about 89% today, at $2.44, in a 52-week range of $1.29-$10.40.

Paul Ausick