LONDON (Thomson Financial) - New Look has received three bids in an auction that could see the privately owned UK fashion retailer sold for 2 bln stg in the next few weeks, weekend press reports claimed.
Texas Pacific Group and Warburg Pincus, Landmark (the group's middle east franchise partner) and BC Partners, the private equity firm which owns Fitness First and Foxtons estate agent, have submitted bids, according to the Saturday Financial Times and the Sunday Express, neither of which cited their sources.
New Look's current private equity owners, Apax Partners and Permira, have hired Merrill Lynch to conduct an auction, after deciding against re-floating the company on the stock exchange.
They bought New Look for 699 mln stg in 2004. tf.TFN-Europe_newsdesk@thomson.com jsa COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.