National Post (National Edition)
Only test is Downward Dog stance: Lululemon
It is not yet known what puzzling fabric affliction led Lululemon Athletica Inc. to pull its overly sheer yoga pants off store shelves this week, but its affects are best observed from the Downward Dog position, the retailer’s chief executive said Thursday.
“The truth of the matter is, the only way that you can actually test for the issue is to put the pants on and bend over,” Christine Day told analysts on a conference call in which executives were grilled about the pants debacle and the quality control process.
“Putting them on themselves does not solve the problem,” she said, adding the pants made of the company’s signature black Luon fabric had passed a series of standard quality metric tests and felt normal to the touch. “It has to be engaged in a fourway stretch for the sheerness to appear. It is a very complex thing to test for.”
The Vancouver-based sportswear retailer saw its shares slide about 6% this week after it revealed it had to pull the affected women’s pants out of stores and warehouses over the weekend when staff noticed the problem.
While the incumbent Canadian operators could theoretically bid on Wind, they would undoubtedly face a steep challenge in getting the government on board.
Industry Minister Christian Paradis touted his commitment to ensuring a fourth carrier in every market in his recent announcement of the rules and timing of the next spectrum auction set to begin Nov. 19.
Mr. Ghose said he estimates VimpelCom and Orascom have invested about $1.7-billion in Wind, including $442-million for the AWS spectrum it bought in the last auction.
Any buyer of Wind will likely have to be prepared to spend about $1.5-billion on top of the acquisition price on spectrum purchases in this year’s auction as well as one planned for a year later, and building out LTE, Mr. Ghose said.
He added that a buyer would likely consider consolidating with Mobilicity and Public Mobile, which would require even more capital.
One wrinkle that could complicate VimpelCom’s plans to sell its stake is the fact Industry Canada has yet to approve the change of control in the company after Mr. Lacavera’s announcement in January of his plans to transfer his shares to the foreign owner.
Although his economic interest in the company is just 34.3%, he has a 66.7% voting interest.