J. Crew Agrees to $3 Billion Takeover

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed)
Nov 26th 2010 at 6:01PM

Purveyor of preppy style J. Crew has agreed to a $3 billion takeover by two private equity firms. TPG Capital and Los Angeles-based Leonard Green & Partners say they plan to work with J. Crew Chief Executive Mickey Drexler, who will remain in that role and maintain a "significant equity investment" in the New York-based company, the Wall St. Journal reports. Drexler, the former head of The Gap, has doubled sales to more than $1.5 billion during his tenure and will personally pocket $150 million from the deal, the San Francisco Chronicle notes. The offer of $43.50 a share in cash represents a 16% premium over J. Crew stock's closing price of $37.65 on Monday and will require shareholder approval. Despite having gotten a boost courtesy of big fan Michele Obama, who wore their designs at numerous public appearances, the company's fortunes have oscillated with the economy. In May 2009 my colleague Deirdre Woollard reported that J. Crew eliminated a number of jobs in an effort to reduce its annual budget by $40 million.

Tags: apparel, business, buyout, J. Crew, Michele Obama, Mickey Drexler, private equity