Peacock takeover talks end
Discount clothing retailer Peacock today said takeover talks had ended only a day after it announced them.
Peacock, which issued a profits warning in January, said in a short statement that “very preliminary discussions” about an indicative and conditional offer for the company had finished.
Yesterday, media speculation prompted it to say that an unnamed party had made “an indicative approach that may or may not lead to an offer” for the company.
Today’s statement said: “Further to the announcement made yesterday, the board of Peacock announces the very preliminary discussions that had taken place regarding a possible indicative and conditional offer for Peacock have now ceased.”
Several analysts had said they believed the approach had come from the company’s management backed by a private equity group.
However, it is understood the suitor was from outside the firm and had decided to withdraw its interest in the light of the publicity it had attracted.
Shares in the group, which rose 17% after yesterday’s news, slipped back 11% or 33p to 256p today.
In January, Peacock said a poor pre-Christmas performance from its bonmarche chain was largely responsible for an expected £4 million reduction in its internal full-year profit forecasts.
The group said trading at the division, which sells clothes for women aged 45 and above, had suffered from strong competition, aggressive discounting by rivals such as Asda and Tesco and inadequate appeal of its products to customers seeking more fashionable products.
In addition to 343 bonmarche outlets, the Cardiff-based firm currently owns 425 stores trading as Peacocks and 46 branches of the Fragrance Shop.
