Joshua Alliance, the retailer’s fourth-largest shareholder and non-executive director, has finalised the US $ 237 million acquisition of N Brown Group. The Alliance family, which already owns a majority share, will take the owner of Simply Be and Jacamo private as part of the agreement.
Under the terms of the October-approved cash purchase, Joshua Alliance-controlled Falcon 24 Bidco purchased the remaining company shares. After the Financial Conduct Authority approved the deal in December, the acquisition was completed and met all regulatory requirements. The sole proprietor is presently Joshua Alliance, who joined the N Brown board in 2020.
Bidco had previously maintained that the company was not profiting from its public listing and was paying high expenses related to being publicly traded because of its shareholder structure and low trading liquidity.
The shareholders of the Jacamo and Simply Be owners, including Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, which owns a 20.3 per cent stake in the company, will get 40p in cash per share as part of the acquisition. As an alternative, qualified shareholders may decide to exchange each N Brown share they own for one unlisted ordinary share in Bidco.
