SEATTLE _ Nordstrom family members were apparently unwilling or unable to substantially boost their $50-a-share offer for the company that bears their name, prompting the retailer's independent directors Tuesday to terminate buyout discussions.
A board committee said in a statement late Tuesday "it could not reach agreement with the group on an acceptable price for the company."
Shares of Seattle-based Nordstrom, which had finished trading Tuesday at $49.35, fell Wednesday to $47.70. The stock had traded as high as $52 earlier this year in anticipation of a buyout bid.
A group of Nordstrom family members _ including company co-presidents and board members Blake W., Peter E., and Erik B. _ on March 5 floated a price of $50 a share to buy back from the public the 68.7 percent of Nordstrom shares they don't already own.
They wanted to continue driving the digital transformation of the retailer without the scrutiny of Wall Street analysts and the demands of managing for quarterly earnings reports. They positioned their offer as a 24 percent premium over Nordstrom's stock on June 7, 2017, the day before they made their take-private effort known.
"The family group disagrees with the board's decision and are disappointed the board rejected what they believe to be a very fair offer," said Brooke White, spokesperson for the Nordstrom family.
The family group in October suspended its efforts to arrange a transaction, as debt financing in the tumultuous retail industry proved hard to line up and some other retailers struggled to survive. Nordstrom saw relatively strong growth in sales through the holiday shopping season, and the family resumed its effort to structure a deal.
Earlier this month, the family revealed a potential financing package including $1.5 to $2 billion from Leanard Green & Partners, a private equity firm, and up to $7.5 billion in debt. It named the potential price of $50 at the behest of the special committee, but said it would have preferred to wait until it had secured financing to do so.
The special committee evaluating the offer rejected it March 5 as "inadequate," and pledged to terminate discussions if the family did not "promptly and substantially improve the price."
Regulatory filings expected in the coming days should reveal whether and by how much the Nordstrom family increased its offer in the ensuing two weeks.
Richard Kestenbaum, co-founder of New York-based Triangle Capital, which provides mergers and acquisition services to companies in retail and apparel, said the latest development means "the Nordstrom family has reached the limit of how much they're willing to risk to get their legacy back from the public shareholders and run it privately."
