It looks like Very Group could be headed for a new owner, just a couple of months after US private equity giant Carlyle took control of the e-tail business.
Very.co.uk
A Sky News report said an auction is expected to start soon with major banks Barclays and JP Morgan lined up to handle the sale.
Very was previously owned by the Barclay family (no relation to Barclays Bank) and there had been attempts to sell it on several occasions. But reports suggested they had a price in mind higher than bidders were prepared to pay. Estimates of Very Group’s current value are £2 billion to £2.5 billion, which would be below the valuation the previous owners had put on it.
Carlyle had been a major lender to the business and it was able to take control under the terms of the financing deal.
The group had been controlled by the Barclay family for over 20 years and was one of a number of their assets to fall out of their control as their business affairs hit problems.
Sky said the sale plan for Very — which will report its Black Friday and Christmas trading next week — comes as Carlyle’s ownership had always been intended to be transitional. Not that any parties involved have commented on the story, which remains unconfirmed.
The group may have seen some struggles in recent years but it remains a huge business with annual revenue of over £2 billion. Its most recent results filed in October saw adjusted EBITDA of £307.1 million but a pre-tax loss of £505.4 million due to a writedown of an inter-company loan made to the Barclay family’s holding company.
Revenue at its flagship Very UK operation “was broadly stable, with a slight decline” of 0.2% to £1.83 billion, while group revenue fell 1.8% to £2.09 billion.
