Gieves & Hawkes’ sale process kicks off
Liquidators for the owner of Gieves & Hawkes are kicking off a sale process for the British luxury menswear retailer.
Advisers started formally soliciting bids for the 250-year-old Savile Row tailor brand this week, one of the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private. The sale will include Gieves & Hawkes’ business in the UK, as well as its operations and licensing agreements in Greater China, according to the person.
The parent company of Gieves & Hawkes, Hong Kong-listed fashion group Trinity Ltd., was put into liquidation last year. Trinity is one of several companies that ran into trouble after being taken over by Chinese textile manufacturer Shandong Ruyi Group.
Trinity’s liquidators aim to find a buyer for Gieves & Hawkes in the third quarter, the person said. The Hong Kong company agreed to buy Gieves & Hawkes in 2012 for an initial sum of £32.5 million ($38.7 million) plus as much as £60 million in earnout payments.
Any deal would add to the $67 billion in takeovers of British companies announced this year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Gieves & Hawkes, headquartered at No. 1 Savile Row in London, had 58 stores in 25 cities as of May last year, according to Trinity’s website.
