By Gillian Tan
Action sports retailer Billabong International Ltd (BBG.AU) may
yet strike a deal with one of two U.S. private equity-backed
consortia.
Both Sycamore Partners and Billabong's former Americas head Paul
Naude, and VF Corporation (VFC) and Altamont Capital Partners, are
still engaged in talks, a person familiar with the matter said
Thursday. Sycamore Partners's second period of exclusivity has
ended.
Billabong on Thursday requested that trading in its shares be
suspended to allow the company to progress discussions with
interested parties. Its closing price, before the company was
halted from trading on Tuesday, was 45.5 cents a share, a 24.2%
discount to the 60 cents a share offered by the Sycamore consortium
in April.
Earlier this year, both the Sycamore and Altamont consortia
offered A$1.10 a share to gain due diligence.
J.P.Morgan analyst Shaun Cousins said in a note to clients on
Thursday that challenges to Billabong's debt position and
operations remain "significant". The company's first-half earnings
before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization fell 31%, and
are forecast to decline between 51% and 64% in the full fiscal 2013
year.
Write to Gillian Tan at gillian.tan@wsj.com