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SpecialtyRetail posts

Deb Shops checks out of Nasdaq

Posted Jul 27th 2007 3:44PM by Tom Taulli (RSS feed)
Filed under: Private Equity, ,

Despite all the gloomy talk about private equity, we are still seeing deals. For example, today Deb Shops (NASDAQ: DEBS) announced that it is selling out for $27.25 or $395 million. The buyer is Lee Equity Partners and the debt financing will come from Barclays Capital.

Deb Shops is a specialty retailer with a focus on juniors (both regulator and plus sizes). There are 337 stores across 42 states.

And it looks like a good deal. After all, the valuation is about one times revenues.

What's more, Lee Equity is bringing Allen Questrom on as the non-executive chairman. He is a highly experienced retail executive and was formerly the CEO of J.C. Penney (NYSE: JCP).

Lehman Brothers (NYSE: LEH) advised Deb Shops on the transaction. As for Lee Equity, it used the services of Bear Stearns (NYSE: BSC).

In today's trading, Deb Shops' shares are up only $0.18 to $26.86.

To see some other recent M&A deals, click here.

Tom Taulli is the author of various books, including the Complete M&A Handbook and the EDGAR-Online Guide to Decoding Financial Statements.

Analyst initiations 4-27-07: BBBY, ETH, PIR and WSM

Posted Apr 27th 2007 11:26AM by Kevin Shult (RSS feed)
Filed under: Before the Bell, Bed Bath and Beyond (BBBY), Analyst Initiations

MOST NOTEWORTHY: Four specialty retailers initiated at FTN Midwest were today's most noteworthy moves in the market:

FTN Midwest initiated shares of Ethan Allen Interiors Inc (NYSE: ETH), Pier 1 Imports (NYSE: PIR) and Bed Bath & Beyond Inc (NASDAQ: BBBY) with Neutral ratings and Williams-Sonoma Inc (NYSE: WSM) with a Buy rating.

OTHER INITIATIONS:

BMO Capital started Bronco Drilling Co (NASDAQ: BRNC), Pioneer Drilling Co (AMEX: PDC) and Union Drilling, IncNASDAQ: UDRL) with Outperform ratings.

CIBC started Chemtura Corp (NYSE: CEM) with a Sector Underperformer rating and $11 target on valuation.

C.E. Unterberg started Altus Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ: ALTU) with a Buy rating and $12 target, believing the company's efforts to develop the first juvenile formulation of a pancreatic enzyme will be a key growth driver.

Analyst summaries provided by TheFlyOnTheWall.com (subscription required).