Victoria's Secret to go private
Emailed on February 21st 2020 in The Friday Forward
Private equity firm Sycamore Partners will pay $525 million for a 55% stake in L Brands’s Victoria’s Secret. Sycamore is known for brass-knuckle tactics that get results in a moribund U.S. retail market.
The deal reportedly values VS at $1.1 billion, a humiliating number for a company that did about $7 billion in revenue last year.
L Brands is expected to keep a 45% stake in the separate company, which will include the Pink chain. After shedding several brands in recent years, L Brands’ operations would be reduced to running the Bath & Body Works chain.
After almost six decades in charge, CEO and Chairman of L Brands Les Wexner will step down from his leadership roles (though he’ll stay on the board). Wexner was the longest-serving CEO of an S&P 500 company; now, that's Warren Buffett.
