Embattled surfwear retailer Billabong has acted in favour of one of its two suitors as it inches towards a takeover.
In January this year, the company announced that it would conduct a process to evaluate whether a change of control proposal, at a price and on terms that the board would recommend, could be secured.
To date, participants in this process consist of a consortium comprising Paul Naude and Sycamore Partners (the Sycamore Consortium) and a consortium comprising Altamont Capital Partners and VF Corporation (the Altamont/VF Consortium).
Billabong has now confirmed that it has entered into a 10 business day period of exclusivity with the Sycamore Consortium in relation to a non-binding proposal to acquire 100 per cent of Billabong's shares for AU$0.60 cash per share.
The 10 business day exclusivity period
has been granted to the Sycamore Consortium to allow it to engage an
internationally recognised accounting firm to complete a confirmatory
quality of earnings analysis, typical of an acquisition debt
financing.
In addition, Billabong has also negotiated a Scheme
Implementation Deed (SID) with the Sycamore Consortium, although no
binding agreement has yet been entered into.
The company has also stressed that any
SID that is entered into will be subject to a number of conditions,
including that there is no material adverse change affecting
Billabong after the date of the SID, and that the conditions of the
bidder's debt funding are satisfied.
Billabong also reiterated
that “there is no guarantee that the proposed transaction will
proceed, and neither the Sycamore Consortium nor Billabong is under
any obligation to proceed with the proposed transaction unless and
until each party determines, in it sole discretion, to execute and
deliver a binding SID and proceed with the transaction”.
The action follows three months of due diligence and the company's shareholders have been asked to sit tight until end of the period of exclusivity, at which time Billabong said it will provide a further update on the status of the proposal.