MOSS BROS SAYS TAKEOVER WOULD BE A GOOD FIT

MOSS Bros shares surged almost 50pc after it agreed to go private in a £22.6m deal.

The suit retailer will be taken over by Menoshi Shina, which owns casualwear chain Crew clothing, for 22p per share. This is 61pc higher than its shares were worth the day before revealing the offer.

Shina has pledged not to close more than five of Moss Bros’s 127 stores in the first year.

Moss Bros traces its history back to a stall at Covent Garden, London, in 1851 and supplied officers’ uniforms during both world wars. Chief executive Brian Brick shook up the business when he took over in 2008, reducing its reliance on hiring out suits and introducing tailoring services.

But it has struggled in recent years, like most of the High Street.

It introduced a three-year turnaround plan last September, but said after Christmas that sales had fallen 3pc in the 24 weeks to January 11.

Brick will stay in his job and the company’s headquarters will stay in Clapham Junction, London. Shares jumped 49.6pc, or 6.8p, to 20.5p.