Billabong bid $1.45

[ac2026]

United States private equity giant TPG has made a renewed, and much lower, bid for Billabong International Ltd worth some $695 million, according to The Australian Financial Review.

In February, TPG offered $3.30 a share for Billabong, valuing the company at $850 million. This week's offer of $1.45 a share comes at a 32 per cent premium to Billabong's last traded price of $1.10, but illustrates the company's struggles since the February offer, which has seen it issue another profit downgrade and launch a heavily discounted capital raising.

The AFR reported that major Billabong shareholders Colonial First State and Perennial Value have informally supported TPG's offer.

Billabong founder Gordon Merchant recently said he felt “bad” about rejecting TPG's initial offer and was open to accept a lower offer. Mr Merchant owns 15.6 per cent of Billabong and is the company's largest shareholder.

If successful, the deal would represent the second largest public-to-private deal of 2012, behind Spotless Group's $720 million purchase of Pacific Equity Partners in late April, the AFR reported.

[alakaboo]

Didn't they almost double the # of shares? So it's more like 2.70 at the original #?

[Beanpole]

Don't know if anyone has noticed the new lows Mambo has been taken to since it was acquired by Big W. Not content with regurgitating its old range they decide to use it on their cheapest and nastiest items of teen wear. Completely trashing whatever threads of quality left in the brand. It actually makes brands like Mango, Piping Hot and Lightning Bolt look classy by comparison.
Will this happen to the Bong?

[OddaP]

^^ Mambo are not exactly dominating the market either, it seems like they are still working out where they stand in the market, but they are very cheap.

I saw that today and its amazing how far they have fallen (Billabong that is)

[alakaboo]

thought it was 7 for 8, but they only sold 3/4s of them?

[steve shearer]

I bet the TPG guy sat in his singapore office and said " I love the smell of dilution in the morning!"

[spaddywaddy]

Billabong really need to go back to their roots. It seems they have lost touch with their core market 'surfers'.

They need to ditch all this high street fashion!

[eel]

Well if Sydney is anything to go by. All the young surfers are wearing tight black jeans, flannos, and early eighties new wave comb overs.

Not Billabongs strong points

[kayu]

^^ Mambo are not exactly dominating the market either, it seems like they are still working out where they stand in the market, but they are very cheap.

I saw that today and its amazing how far they have fallen (Billabong that is)

I can smell a Mentals reunion and a national tour of R.S.L. s , so Reg can pay the rent......

[alakaboo]

If they just made a wetsuit designed for humans, I'd probably be happy.
Don't really care too much about the rest of the business.

[saucy gibbon]

if tpg do get up i hope the govt have closed the tax loop hole

makes you feel good when they tell you ya better not cheat on ya tax return when big fish like that can swim thru / around the net

how much money does mr burns need anyway ?

[Davros]

Mambo, so General Pants of yesteryear.

Bring back grey Californians.

[--++sunstroke++--]

You could get a much better return on your investment by parallel importing a couple of thousand pairs of generic labelled ''Billabong'', ''Quicksilver'', ''Converse'' or ''Nike'' labelled boardies from overseas and flogging them off to mates for 10 bux a pair

[Beanpole]

Mambo, so General Pants of yesteryear.

Bring back grey Californians.

Thats funny. I've got a pair made by Deus.