Carpetright mulls cut-price £15m takeover bid from largest shareholder
Embattled retailer Carpetright is in last ditch rescue talks with its biggest investor.
The flooring specialist is mulling a £15.2m offer from its largest shareholder, Meditor, amid fears that it will not be able to pay off its debt pile.
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The takeover offer of 5p a share is below the struggling firm’s current value, sending shares down 50 per cent today to 4.3p.
Shares in the group closed at just over 9p last night, putting a £27.6m price tag on it.
Meditor, which is owned by investment manager and poker player Talal Shakerchi, controls a holding of almost 30 per cent in the firm.
The board said this morning that it believes approximately £80m is needed to repay debt facilities, meet ongoing working capital requirements and provide capital to execute its strategy.
Bob Ivell, chairman of Carpetright, said: “Shareholders will be aware that we have been engaged in comprehensive refinancing discussions to replace existing facilities which expire at the end of this calendar year.
He added: “The possible offer being announced today would put in place a new financing structure for Carpetright which would enable us to continue our recovery and make necessary investments in improving our business.”
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Carpetright has said the current flooring market remains “challenging”, citing a wider economic and geopolitical backdrop for its problems in recent months.