First-round bids for New Look are due on Monday, with more than half a dozen bidders intending to make offers for the retailer that may reach £2bn. CVC is working with Landmark, the Middle Eastern private equity firm that already has a 3 per cent stake in New Look. TPG, meanwhile, has teamed with Warburg Pincus. Private equity firms including Blackstone and PAI are understood to be planning to bid as individuals. In March, Apax and Permira, New Look’s owners, ruled out a flotation for the company and hired Merrill Lynch to conduct a secondary buy-out three years after taking the fashion chain private for £699m in 2004. If the company sells for £2bn, Apax and Permira, which own 66 per cent of the business, will have each doubled their £150m investments by two refinancings and may make up to £1.3bn between them.

This entry was posted by Gwen Robinson on Monday, May 21st, 2007 at 5:23 and is filed under Capital markets, M&A, Private equity. Tagged with apax, cvc, landmark, merrill lynch, new look, permira, tpg, warburg pincus. Edit this entry.