UK's Jacques Vert agrees to Sun Capital's $64 mln bid

Jacques Vert Plc agreed to be taken over by U.S. private investment firm Sun Capital for about 41.2 million pounds ($64 million) in cash, nearly a month after the British fashion retailer issued a full-year profit warning.

Jacques Vert

British retailers are nervous about consumer spending, running into the key Christmas trading period following a string of profit warnings from companies such as French Connection and Game.

"Jacques Vert is well placed to deliver further growth, (but) the current economic outlook is uncertain. It is against this background that the board of Jacques Vert has considered the offer," Minerva Bidco, the acquisition vehicle of Sun Capital's affiliate Minerva Holdco, said in a statement.

Jacques Vert, whose brands include its namesake label, Planet, Precis and Windsmoor, posted a 26 percent fall in pretax profit at 2.3 million pounds for the half year ended Oct. 29. Sales were nearly flat at 56.4 million pounds.

The recommended offer at 21-pence-per-share represents a premium of 68 percent to the Jacques Vert stock's Friday close.

Affiliates of Sun Capital have invested in more than 280 companies worldwide so far. In September, Irisa Group Ltd bought British womenswear firm Alexon Group after the company went into administration.

Jacques Vert's shares, which have lost almost a third of their value in the last six months, were up 63 percent at 20.5 pence at 1015 GMT on the London Stock Exchange. ($1 = 0.6440 British pounds) (Reporting by Tresa Sherin Morera in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)