Nordstrom To Be Taken Private by Founding Family in $6.25B Deal

Nordstrom (JWN) will soon be off the stock market, after agreeing to be taken private by its founding family and Mexican retailer El Puerto de Liverpool in a deal valuing the department store chain at about $6.25 billion.

The Nordstrom family will own a 50.1% stake to Liverpool’s 49.9% stake when the deal closes, which Nordstrom said should be in the first half of next year. The deal will also have to be approved by two-thirds of Nordstrom shareholders, including a majority of Nordstrom’s non-family and non-Liverpool shareholders.

Shareholders will receive $24.25 for each share they own, along with the company’s regular 19 cent dividend per share, which will continue to be paid quarterly, and a special 25 cent dividend per share once the deal closes.

Nordstrom noted that the per-share price is a premium of about 42% compared to mid-March, when reports emerged of a potential takeover. The news sent Nordstrom shares up over 9% on March 19, and they have trended higher in the months since.

The deal is also a step up from the $3.8 billion or $23 per share offer from the Nordstrom family and Liverpool that was revealed in a regulatory filing in September. Nordstrom beat earnings estimates in its latest quarter following that offer, though executives said they had seen a “noticeable decline in sales trends” at the end of October.

Nordstrom shares were down 1.4% Monday morning to $24.20, just below the $24.25 price shareholders are set to receive in the approved deal.