Silke Jasso
Jimmy Choo is on the market — not the designer himself, but his eponymous company.
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The BBC reports the high-end shoe brand is seeking offers, but has not yet received any bids. Jimmy Choo believes a sale would “maximise [sic] value for its shareholders,” per a company statement released Monday.
Luxury retailer Jimmy Choo puts itself up for sale: https://t.co/3qR3W8nc7E pic.twitter.com/AeMQ2JyBvr
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 24, 2017
Right now, the British brand has a market value of about £700 million, or nearly 900 million USD, and operates more than 150 stores worldwide. According to Business Insider, its shares slumped last summer, but have since rebounded.
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JAB Luxury, a long-term investment company, currently holds 68 percent of Jimmy Choo. While it is “supportive of the process,” it also said there is “no certainty that an offer will be made, nor as to the terms on which any offer will be made.”
Jimmy Choo was co-founded in 1996 by former “Vogue” editor Tamara Mellon and Choo, who once worked for Princess Diana.
Traditional retailers have faced recent tough times. Many iconic brands, from Bebe to Ralph Lauren, are closing stores and taking other drastic measures to stay afloat; department stores — including Macy’s, Sears, and JCPenney — are shuttering mall locations nationwide. Billionaire investor Warren Buffett blamed the trend in part on the rise in popularity of e-commerce companies, such as Amazon.
