Sears Holdings Corp. said it formally offered $6.75 per share for upscale home decor retailer Restoration Hardware Inc., which already agreed to be acquired by buyout firm Catterton Partners for $6.70 a share, according to a Sears filing with the SEC. In the filing, Sears offers a timeline of events, since it disclosed Nov. 19 a 13.7% stake in Restoration. Sears made its formal offer on Friday and demanded that Restoration enter into a confidentiality agreement, which Restoration evidently balked at on Sunday.
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The post-Thanksgiving contact between Sears and Restoration is not the first, and it may not be the last. Sears chairman Eddie Lampert reportedly approached Restoration through a board member in June to sound out interest in a possible combination and was advised to speak to Restoration chairman and CEO Gary Friedman. A meeting between Lampert and Friedman reportedly took place in October, but nothing came of it.
Sears may think Restoration could fit Sears' store-within-a-store strategy, akin to the Lands' End apparel sections within most Sears department stores. In addition to Sears stores, the company also operates discounter Kmart, catalog apparel business Lands' End and upscale home design and decor chain Great Indoors, which would offer Sears the best store-within-a-store opportunity.
Full coverage will come later in The Daily Deal and on TheDeal.com. — Matthew Wurtzel
See SEC filing
See TheDeal.com: Lampert's baffling Restoration move
See TheDeal.com: Sears takes Restoration stake
See TheDeal.com: Catterton takes Restoration
