Jimmy Choo tipped for acquisition by Coach
Coach [NYSE:COH], the New York City-based luxury fashion group, is considered a likely acquirer of upmarket British footwear brand Jimmy Choo [LON:CHOO], The Sunday Telegraph reported. According to senior sources cited in the report, Coach is seeking luxury labels to acquire after failing to snap up UK-based Burberry [LON:BRBY] last year.
Coach is willing to pay more than GBP 1bn (USD 1.3bn) for Jimmy Choo, which was put on the market last week by majority shareholder JAB Holdings, the report said. Citi and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have been hired to manage the auction.
Former Jimmy Choo chief executive Joshua Schulman was recently appointed CEO of Coach, the report noted.
Luxury brand operators from the Middle East, such as Mayhoola of Qatar, are believed to be potential bidders for Jimmy Choo, the item reported. French luxury groups LVMH [EPA:MC] and Kering [EPA:KER] are unlikely to be interested in Jimmy Choo as they have been attempting to streamline their operations rather than enlarging them, bankers cited in the article pointed out.
Coach has an USD 11bn market cap, the report noted.