Home Depot Inc. reportedly was close to accepting about $1.2 billion less for the sale of HD Supply, its wholesale distribution business, as uncertainty about whether the deal would close by Thursday night's deadline loomed, according to stories in The Wall Street Journal and New York Post. As of Friday morning, Home Depot refused to comment on the talks to Bloomberg, Reuters and other news services. News about Home Depot cutting the $10.3 billion sale price is not new; it last surfaced Aug. 9. Evidently the problem is not with the buyout firms — Bain Capital LLC, Clayton Dubilier & Rice Inc. and the Carlyle Group — seeking concessions from the underperforming retailer, but instead the banks seeking concessions from the buyers, according to multiple news reports. If the deal doesn't close, the Journal is reporting the banks, J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Lehman Brothers Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co., are girding for a legal battle with the buyout firms, who may file a law suit. The retailer agreed to sell the unit in June.
Full coverage will come later in The Daily Deal and on TheDeal.com. —Matthew Wurtzel
See story from The Wall Street Journal
See story from the New York Post
See story from The New York Times
See Aug. 9 story from TheDeal.com
See story about poor sales from TheDeal.com
Tags: private+equity, deals, private-equity
Continue reading below
