Major Shareholder Dumps Michael Kors

Sportswear Holdings was a founding shareholder in Kors, which came public in late 2011 and has seen its share price rise by a factor of nearly four from an initial public offering price of $20 a share. Kors has had a fabulous run so far, and even though its most recent quarter was a bit disappointing, that is only because investors have to compare Kors to itself. Shares are trading down about 3% year-to-date.

Since the Kors IPO, Coach Inc. (NYSE: COH) shares have lost 40%. Through the first eight months of the year Coach is the worst performing stock on U.S. equity markets. Kors, in contrast, said in its most recent quarterly report that North American sales are up 30% year-over-year, European sales are up a whopping 128% and the company’s Other Regions are up about 88%. Any other apparel retailer would love to see growth numbers like that.

In addition to selling its shares, Sportswear Holdings will give up its two board seats, which Kors apparently will not fill.

Shares of Kors traded down about 4.4% Friday morning, at $76.49 in a 52-week range of $70.59 to $101.04.

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