‘We’ll take Nordstrom please, in a bag to go’

The founding family of Nordstrom said Thursday it is exploring a deal to take the Seattle-based department store chain private.

The surprise announcement sent Nordstrom shares soaring as much as 20 percent in premarket trades. They closed up 10 percent, to $44.63.

A group of family execs including Nordstrom co-presidents Blake Nordstrom, Peter Nordstrom and Erik Nordstrom have formed a group to explore a possible deal to acquire “100 percent” of the retailer’s outstanding common stock, according to a Thursday press release.

The family owns 31 percent of common shares in the company, with former chairman Bruce Nordstrom holding the biggest stake, at 15.4 percent.

“The group has not made a proposal to the company regarding any such transaction,” according to the announcement.

Nevertheless, Nordstrom’s board of direc- tors has formed a special committee to evaluate any offers, and that committee has hired Centerview Partners to serve as its financial adviser.

Some experts believe the move could attract potential rival bidders to the founding family, namely Hudson’s Bay Co., which is among the most acquisitive retailers today and is in the market to buy luxury competitor Neiman Marcus.

Others believe it is unlikely that a rival bidder would usurp the family. Nordstrom owns just 36 of its 472 stores, “and the odds of the real estate being worth more than the business [are] low,” noted Richard Kestenbaum, a partner in Triangle Capital.

The timing of the family’s decision is likely driven by the company’s affordable stock price and the family’s frustration at having to make-short-term strategic decisions to please Wall Street, said former Nordstrom executive Kathy Gersch, now a consultant at Kotter International.