The famous luxury department store Saks Inc, could come under a joint ownership of investors from Iceland and Dubai. Iceland’s Baugur Group and Dubai’s Landmark Group submitted a joint bid for the company. Within hours of the bid being received, share prices for Saks rose considerably.
Baugur currently has stakes in several retail companies in Britain such as the House of Fraser. The company has the right to acquire over 12 million shares of Saks and has announced that it intends to discuss acquisition and financing possibilities with the management and board of directors at Saks.
Landmark is more widely known for it’s ownership of hypermarkets in India. The group already owns 1.66 million shares of Saks, accounting for 1.2 per cent of the company’s common stock.
Talk about a takeover of Saks has been circulating for several weeks, during which time share value has risen dramatically. Since October 1st, share prices have climbed 14 per cent and since Baugur Group and Landmark Group entered the fray, stock has climbed nine per cent.
Saks currently operates several store locations including Saks Fifth Avenue, Off 5th and Club Libby Lu stores. In the last few years, the company has been renovating stores and changing its business model.