Scarlett succeeds in Allders takeover
Department store group to be delisted
February 21 2002
Scarlett Retail has won its bid to take over department store group Allders, and now holds 75.9 per cent of shares.
Scarlett, set up jointly by property company Minerva and retailer Terry Green, said it had satisfied all the conditions of its offer and now held. Allders will be delisted on March 20, the latest in a series of UK retailers to be taken into private hands.
Minerva increased its offer 164.1p a share plus a 4.4p final dividend earlier this month after too few shareholders accepted its original bid. Among the beneficiaries of the increased price is TBH investments, the company controlled by entrepreneur Tom Hunter, which built up a 10.8 per cent stake in Allders and considered a rival bid.
Minerva’s main interest is in the lease held by Allders on the anchor store at Park Place, a major retail development planned by Minerva in Allder’s home town of Croydon, Surrey.
Minerva is likely to consider offering the store to a more high profile department store operator such as John Lewis. Debenhams already has a presence in the town while House of Fraser is the anchor tenant in a rival development currently underway.
Green has put together a team to run the department store business, including the Oxford Street store opened last year. Former Asda finance director Phil Cox also has a stake in Scarlett Retail and will be part of the management team.
