Michael Kors to buy Jimmy Choo Plc for US$1.2bil
PARIS: Michael Kors Holdings Ltd agreed to buy Jimmy Choo Plc for about £896mil (US$1.2bil), clinching the London-based maker of strappy stilettos, handbags and perfume.
The handbag maker will pay 230 pence a share for the luxury shoemaker, a premium of 18% over Monday’s close, the companies said Tuesday.
The price is equal to about 17.5 times Jimmy Choo’s adjusted ebitda for 2016.
The Jimmy Choo brand rose to prominence in the late 1990s, boosted by high-profile devotees including the late Princess Diana and the fictional Carrie Bradshaw in television series “Sex and the City.”
The deal comes amid consolidation in the luxury industry, with Michael Kors rival Coach Inc agreeing to buy Kate Spade & Co earlier this year.
Jimmy Choo was acquired by private-equity investors three times before being bought by JAB Holding Co for more than £500mil in 2011. JAB, the investment vehicle of the billionaire Reimann family, sold a stake in a 2014 initial public offering, though has remained the company’s majority owner with a 68% stake. The shares rose as much as 17% in early trading.
BofA Merrill Lynch and Citigroup advised Jimmy Choo. Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase & Co advised Michael Kors. Michael Kors said it would keep Jimmy Choo’s existing management team, led by chief executive officer Pierre Denis.