Fashion brand Ted Baker has launched a formal sale process after receiving multiple approaches for the business
(Picture: PA Archive)Ted Baker has put up the for sale sign after a string of “unsolicited” takeover bids.
The high street fashion brand has agreed to start a formal sale process after three approaches from private equity company Sycamore Partners Management and another bid from an unnamed suitor.
Two offers have already been rejected on the basis they “significantly undervalued” the retailer. But given the level of interest, the fashion house has decided to invite offers. A sale is not certain.
The board said it believes Ted Baker is “well positioned” to “create significant value for shareholders” as a standalone company.
A statement from the fashion chain said: “The board has decided to conduct an orderly process to establish whether there is a bidder prepared to offer a value that the board considers attractive relative to the standalone prospects of Ted Baker as a listed company.”
Shares jumped more than 14% on the news.
The company is currently on the upswing after a difficult few years. Founder Ray Kelvin, who started the business in 1988 with a men’s shirt shop in Glasgow, resigned in March 2019.
He was accused of massaging employees, kissing their ears and asking some to sit on his lap as well as imposing a culture of “forced hugging”. Kelvin, who denied all allegations, still retains an 11.48% share in Ted Baker.
The business struggled in the wake of his exit but recently said it was on track to return to profit.
Sophie Lund-Yates, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Ted Baker’s share price has taken a real beating recently, as wider macro challenges have been compounded by its declining sales.
“The structural decline in retail, coupled with Ted’s exposure to occasionwear, which was one of the worst hit areas during lockdowns, have made for very challenging conditions.”
Kelvin has recently returned to the company in some sense, with his views represented by non-executive director Colin La Fontaine Jackson as part of a new “relationship agreement”.
