Yesterday Sainsbury, today Burberry.
The latest retail takeover tale doing the rounds - following revived gossip yesterday that the Qataris might take another tilt at Sainsbury - surrounded the luxury goods group. Burberry shares have jumped 46p to £11.76 after talk of a possible £15 a share bid, although no further details have so far emerged. A couple of months back there were suggestions of private equity interest in the retailer. But at the time Citigroup analyts played down the takeover suggestions, saying:
We do not see much strategic and financial rationale for private equity money to enter so late in Burberry's transformation story.
Likewise, we struggle to find strategic rationale for [rivals] PPR and LVMH to add another soft luxury brand to their portfolio, notwithstanding the difficulties these conglomerates have historically had in creating value from M&A.
