Seraphine buyout to complete early next month

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Mar 31, 2023

Seraphine’s time as a stock exchange-listed company is nearly over, with the maternity-wear specialist saying on Friday that the Bidco subsidiary of its majority owner (Mayfair Equity Partners, or MEP) has received acceptances for its buyout offer adding up to almost 96% of the shares. 

Above 90%, it’s able to compulsorily acquire the rest of the shares and will do this once the offer period closes on 6 April. The firm’s shares should then be de-listed around 8 April.

It comes after Bidco made its offer back in January, potentially bringing to a close a period on the stock exchange that hasn’t been happy for Seraphine.

The offer valued the company at just £15.3 million (30p a share), well down from the £29.5 a share price that the firm listed at 18 months ago. But the shares had been trading for 10p each ahead of the offer.

The company has faced difficult times in recent periods, saying that the environment has been “highly challenging” and that its revenues had fallen.

But MEP clearly sees potential in the business that was founded by Cecile Reinaud in 2002 and grew to a sizeable footprint before she retired from the firm in 2020. An MEP-backed management buyout valued it at £50 million and when it listed in 2021, MEP held on to a 40% stake. It has plans to invest in Seraphine post-acquisition.