Juicy Couture owner scoops up UK’s Ted Baker for about $254 mln

Juicy Couture owner scoops up UK’s Ted Baker for about $254 mln

The Ted Baker logo is seen at their store at the Woodbury Common Premium Outlets in Central Valley, New York, U.S., February 15, 2022. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File PhotoRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegister

  • Offer price of 110 pence per Ted Baker share
  • Offer backed by Ted Baker board

Aug 16 (Reuters) – Juicy Couture and Forever 21 owner Authentic Brands (ABG) (AUTH.N) has agreed to buy Ted Baker (TED.L) in a deal worth roughly 211 million pounds ($254 million), ending months of speculation over the fate of the British fashion group.Pandemic-related losses forced Ted Baker to put itself up for sale in April and the company picked a preferred suitor the following month. However, the bidder – reported to have been ABG – in June decided not to make an offer, forcing Ted Baker to consider other options. read more Ted Baker has now reached an agreement with U.S.-based ABG, whose brands also include Reebok, consisting of 110 pence cash for each Ted Baker share, and which represents a premium of about 18.2% to Monday’s closing price.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterThe companies said the deal would not be revised unless a rival suitor emerges.”ABG believes there are significant growth opportunities for the Ted Baker brand in North America given (its) … strong consumer recognition in this market,” the New York-listed company said in a statement on Tuesday.Known for its suits, shirts and dresses with quirky details, Ted Baker is in the midst of a turnaround plan and is looking to benefit from a rebound in demand for office and leisure wear.In May it posted a smaller annual loss of 38.4 million pounds and said sales in the first quarter of the current year had risen 20% year-on-year. read more Ted Baker had also rejected several bids from private-equity group Sycamore before launching its sale process, and Tuesday’s move is the latest in a flurry of deals for British companies, made more affordable to overseas buyers by the weakness of the pound.Ted Baker’s shares were up about 17% at 108p in early trading, just shy of the offer price and still well short of their peak in 2015 when they were trading at 2,972p apiece.($1 = 0.8299 pounds)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .

Twitter set to accept Musk’s $43 billion offer

Twitter set to accept Musk’s $43 billion offer

Elon Musk’s twitter account is seen through the Twitter logo in this illustration taken, April 25, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterNEW YORK, April 25 (Reuters) – Twitter Inc (TWTR.N) is poised to agree a sale to Elon Musk for around $43 billion in cash, the price the CEO of Tesla has called his “best and final” offer for the social media company, people familiar with the matter said.Twitter may announce the $54.20-per-share deal later on Monday once its board has met to recommend the transaction to Twitter shareholders, the sources said, adding it was still possible the deal could collapse at the last minute.Musk, the world’s richest person according to Forbes, is negotiating to buy Twitter in a personal capacity and Tesla (TSLA.O) is not involved in the deal.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterTwitter has not been able to secure so far a ‘go-shop’ provision under its agreement with Musk that would allow it to solicit other bids once the deal is signed, the sources said. Still, Twitter would be allowed to accept an offer from another party by paying Musk a break-up fee, the sources added.The sources requested anonymity because the matter is confidential. Twitter and Musk did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Twitter shares were up 4.5% in pre-market trading in New York at $51.15.Musk, a prolific Twitter user, has said it needs to be taken private to grow and become a genuine platform for free speech.The 50-year-old entrepreneur, who is also CEO of rocket developer SpaceX, has said he wants to combat trolls on Twitter and proposed changes to the Twitter Blue premium subscription service, including slashing its price and banning advertising.The billionaire, a vocal advocate of cryptocurrencies, has also suggested adding dogecoin as a payment option on Twitter.He has said Twitter’s current leadership team is incapable of getting the company’s stock to his offer price on its own, but stopped short of saying it needs to be replaced.”The company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form,” Musk said in his offer letter last week.Up to the point Musk disclosed a stake in Twitter in April, the company’s shares had fallen about 10% since Parag Agrawal took over as CEO from founder Jack Dorsey in late November.The deal, if it happens, would come just four days after Musk unveiled a financing package to back the acquisition.This led Twitter’s board to take his offer more seriously and many shareholders to ask the company not to let the opportunity for a deal slip away, Reuters reported on Sunday. Before Musk revealed the financing package, Twitter’s board was expected to reject the bid, sources had said. read more The sale would represent an admission by Twitter that Agrawal is not making enough traction in making the company more profitable, despite being on track to meet ambitious financial goals the company set for 2023. Twitter’s shares were trading higher than Musk’s offer price as recently as November.Musk unveiled his intention to buy Twitter on April 14 and take it private via a financing package comprised of equity and debt. Wall Street’s biggest lenders, except those advising Twitter, have all committed to provide debt financing.Musk’s negotiating tactics – making one offer and sticking with it – resembles how another billionaire, Warren Buffett, negotiates acquisitions. Musk did not provide any financing details when he first disclosed his offer for Twitter, making the market skeptical about its prospects.Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Greg Roumeliotis in New York, additional reporting by Krystal Hu;
Editing by Mark Potter
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .

Netflix tests sharing accounts outside household

Netflix tests sharing accounts outside household

Small toy figures are seen in front of diplayed Netflix logo in this illustration taken March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/IllustrationRegister now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterMarch 16 (Reuters) – Netflix Inc is testing features including one that will allow accounts to be shared outside members’ household at an extra cost, the streaming pioneer said on Wednesday.The company is testing the features in Chile, Costa Rica and Peru allowing members on its standard and premium plans to add up to two people.Netflix is also studying another feature that will allow members on a basic, standard or premium plan to transfer their profile information to a new account or a sub account retaining data such as viewing history and personalized recommendations. (https://bit.ly/3CLKbF2)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterThe company currently allows people who live together to share their Netflix account. However, the plans have created some confusion about when and how accounts can be shared, the company said, adding it is impacting its ability to invest in new content.The company said it would test the features for their utility before making changes in other parts of the world.Netflix in January tempered its growth expectations, projecting customer additions in the first-quarter at less than half of Wall Street’s expectations citing the late arrival of anticipated content. read more Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.comRegisterReporting by Akash Sriram in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. .