Tag: CGJ

All being well Coles Group will cease to exist as a listed company after this Friday after shareholders yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of the $20 billion takeover offer from Wesfarmers.

And then there was one.

Enough questions remain unanswered about whether the US buyout groups are still interested in Coles Group, that some sort of formal statement on the exact state of play at Coles,should be requested by the securities regulator, ASIC.

Another multi-billion dollar takeover offer pushed by American private equity firms has collapsed.

Oh the ignominy of it all: a struggling corporate so bad that not even two of the most aggressive private equity groups in the world, KKR and CVC, want it.

Coles Group shareholders are facing the collapse of the$20 billion auction for their company after US private equity group, KKR joined another group, CVC, in the exit lounge.

Well, Wesfarmers and its number crunching private equity partners go into the data room at Coles Myer today to begin due diligence on the floundering retail giant that will produce a bid well above $17.25 a share.

For the moment we can add the sale of Coles Group to the list of life’s certainties: death and taxes.

There’s a small problem that might just cut the billion dollar-plus valuation Coles expects to get for its Officeworks chain of business supplies.

The battle for control of struggling retailer, Coles Group, has moved very quickly to a decisive stage with Perth-based Wesfarmers teaming up with private equity group, Pacific Equity Partners, and possibly others,to launch a raid on the retailer aimed at securing front seat at any negotiating table.

There’s one overriding lesson from this week’s events at Coles Group and its old department store arm, Myer and that is: if you want to save a retail business that was owned by Coles, sell it to new owners and install people who know what they are doing.

Such is the pessimism about Coles that the newish owners of Myer Department Stores could probably float now, less than a year after purchase, and sell it at a profit to the $1.4 billion they paid Coles for it.

Monday’s record price for Coles Group shares of $16.15 was quickly undone yesterday as 24 hours of analysis and second thoughts found gaping holes in the company’s performance and cast doubt on prices above the $16 a share level in any buyout.

Coles Group is trading ex-results and cum-break up, so any reaction in the price of the company’s shares is solely dependent on the latter.

Isn’t it heartening to see some life in the fading form of Coles Group, which was the country’s second biggest retailer?

Incompetence can harm a company in many ways: low share price, no profits, losses, takeover, management and board changes.

Is Coles’ chances of being snaffled by a buyout group led by KKR of the US, disappearing in London where there seems to be a repeat of last year’s bidding for Coles with recovering UK retail giant, Sainsbury?