AlixPartners UK to sell big stake in Sandro and Maje owner SMCP

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 1, 2023

Alastair Beveridge and Daniel Imison of AlixPartners UK are selling a 37% stake in SMCP, the French premium fashion company that owns Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Fursac. The sale process is expected to take several months.

No details are available about who might buy the stake or how much it might fetch and whether the sale of such a big stake might lead to a takeover bid for the group.

As in the UK, the threshold for a mandatory takeover in France is 30%. But if two or more bidders buy the shares, a full takeover isn’t guaranteed.

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The company currently has a market capitalisation of almost €600 million, based on a share price of €7.94, although it was lower earlier this week with Wednesday’s news having seen the shares rising over 7%.

But analysts at Jefferies on Wednesday said they “value SMCP on an 7x EV/EBIT multiple on a fundamental basis, which would be €11 [a] share”.

AlixPartners simply said: “At this initial stage in launching the sale process, the timing for the sale process, the conclusion of any sale of the pledged shares, the identity of any purchaser (or purchasers), and whether all or any part of the pledged shares may be sold to one or more purchasers are currently unknown. Accordingly, it is not yet possible to assess whether the transaction will trigger or not a subsequent mandatory takeover bid.”

Over a year ago, SMCP came under the control of a group of former bondholders that also include Blackrock and Carlyle. That happened after its former owner (part of troubled Chinese conglomerate Shandong Ruyi) defaulted on €250 million worth of debt.