Australian underwear manufacturer Pacific Brands said takeover talks with parties including KKR have ended without an offer being made, according to Reuters. KKR made a buyout approach to Pacific Brands in January that local reports said could be worth $614 million.
Reuters – Australian underwear manufacturer Pacific Brands (PBG.AX) said on Tuesday that takeover talks with parties including KKR & Co (KKR.N) have ended without an offer being made, and confirmed a weak sales and profit outlook.
Private equity giant KKR & Co made a buyout approach to Pacific Brands in January that local reports said could be worth $614 million. Pacific Brands said after the approach it had also received other enquiries.
“Having explored these enquiries, the board of Pacific Brands has concluded that a definitive proposal for the acquisition of the entire issued capital of the company is unlikely to be forthcoming in the near term,” the company said in a statement.
The talks with Pacific Brands, the maker of Bonds underwear, Berlei bras and Sheridan sheets, sent a signal that many cyclical businesses, including retailers, were trading at such low levels they were attractive to private equity.
A source told Reuters in February that rival global private equity firm TPG Capital TPG.UL had held initial discussions with a group of eight banks to fund a takeover bid for Pacific Brands.
Pacific Brands on Tuesday reaffirmed its outlook that earnings and net profit before one-off items are expected to be materially down in the second half, compared with the first half, due to weak retail conditions.
(Reporting by Victoria Thieberger; Editing by Richard Pullin)