Victoria’s Secret parent L Brands has ended a tie-up plan with private equity firm Sycamore, threatening to derail the turnaround plan of the largest U.S. lingerie chain that was already struggling to reclaim its sexy even before the coronavirus pandemic.
Victoria’s Secret parent L Brands
LB has ended a tie-up plan with private equity firm Sycamore Partners, threatening to derail the turnaround plan of the largest U. S. lingerie chain that was already struggling to reclaim its sexy even before the coronavirus pandemic.
L Brands said late Monday that it and Sycamore have decided to end an agreement struck only in February for the private equity firm to acquire a 55% stake of Victoria’s Secret. The decision came after Sycamore in April first sued L Brands seeking to terminate the deal, reportedly arguing Victoria’s Secret’s coronavirus-led decision to shut stores and stop paying its rent has violated the terms of the deal. L Brands had followed with its own counter suit at the time.
With the ending of the proposed marriage, L Brands said it’s taking steps to ready Victoria’s Secret and its Pink business as a separate and standalone company while its better-performing and profitable Bath & Body Works chain will be run as a “pure-play public company.”
L Brands, whose stock has tumbled to $12 at Monday’s close from a peak of near $100 just over four years ago because of declining fortunes at Victoria’s Secret, slumped another 14% in after-hours trading.
