Moss Boss shares boosted by bid talk
Excitement over a possible Icelandic bid for Moss Bros caused shares in the menswear retailer to jump by 15% today.
The sharp rise came as investors seized on a weekend report indicating that Baugur will unveil an £80m (€119.2m) offer for the firm in the next month.
Baugur already owns a large chunk of the UK high street with investments ranging from House of Fraser and Hamleys to the clothing chains Whistles and Karen Millen.
Its reported interest in Moss Bros comes after a disappointing year for the menswear business, which also trades as Cecil Gee and Hugo Boss.
In October, the group posted half-year pre-tax profits of £800,000 (€1.2m), compared with £1.7m (€2.5m) a year earlier after the Moss arm saw like-for-like revenues fall for the first time in almost four years. It blamed the downturn on a disappointing response to its spring and summer casualwear collection.
Moss Bros shares closed at 66p on Friday – near a two-and-a-half year low - but were up 10p today following the report in the Sunday Telegraph.
It is thought that an offer could be worth 85p a share, valuing the company at almost £80m (€119.2m).
Baugur already owns a large slice of Moss, but could yet face competition from the bidders behind the recent acquisition of Austin Reed. The founding Moss and Gee families, who still have a large stake, may also look at the chain, the newspaper report added at the weekend.
It is thought that Baugur will wait until the retailer’s next trading update at the end of January before confirming its interest.
