The steadily tepid economy has aligned with low interest rates and a strong stock market to raise the prospects that there could be big, multibillion-dollar deals in the fashion world this year. The caveat is whether big-time buyers feel comfortable enough to bet on a consumer who’s still feeling her way forward cautiously.
Wall Street at least is ready to go and egging companies on, even if buyers are still in wait-and-see mode.
Rumors — not particularly credible ones — have bubbled to the surface lately that large, premier companies might change hands. Coach Inc., Tiffany & Co., Burberry and the troubled J.C. Penney Co. Inc. have all been the subject of whispers among investors in recent weeks.
A deal for any of those companies would easily run over $5 billion.
That’s a boatload of money, but there’s plenty of cash sitting on corporate balance sheets and in private equity war chests. And extremely low interest rates, which are intended to prop up the economy, have also prompted banks and junk bond investors to lend money cheaply and with few strings attached.
Source: WWD
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