Sports Direct’s £140m bid for listed group rebuffed

Sports Direct has revealed plans to make a swoop for listed group Findel, but may be frustrated after its offer was deemed to ‘seriously undervalue’ the company.

The Shirebrook firm has owned shares in Findel, who main subsidiaries are Express Gifts and Findel Education, which has its logistics centre based in Nottingham, since 2015.  Yesterday (4 March), it bought a further stake in company taking its ownership to 36.8%, meaning that it has to make an offer for the remaining Findel shares.

Express Gifts, the largest company within the Findel group, sells clothing, greeting cards, gifts, home and garden items through its Studio and Ace catalogues and websites.

Findel Education is a supplier of educational resources in Europe. Customers include state and independent schools from nursery to secondary level, hospitals, charities, and other educational bodies

The deal would value Findel at nearly £140m.

A statement from Sports Direct said: “Sports Direct continues to recognise the value and quality of the Findel business, and sees the offer as an opportunity to give increased support to Findel to maximise the value of its existing business. The offer is as an effective way of expanding the commercial arrangements between Sports Direct and Findel, and giving Sports Direct increased exposure to the future growth of the Findel business.”

However, Findel has released its own statement, in which it says: “The Board believes that the mandatory offer significantly undervalues the Group and its future prospects and is unanimous in its rejection of the offer of 161 pence per share and recommends that shareholders should take no action at this time.”

Findel reported revenues of £479m and a profit before tax of £22.1m million for the year ended 30 March 2018.