Hanover non-core assets back on the block

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 11/11/2003 12:00:00 AM

Edgewater, NJ — Now that the mergers and acquisitions market is recovering, as well as consumer confidence, Hanover Direct executives said that they are again pursuing buyers for its non-core assets such as Gumps, Silhouettes and International Male.

"The window of opportunity is much better than it has been to sell these non-core assets to get significant value," said Tom Shull, president and ceo, during its third quarter conference call. He added that now that its Series C preferred stock is down to $56 million, "clearly we can make real inroads to paying that off, whereas when it was at $112 million it would have been problematic."

The company had mentioned during its annual meeting in May that it would look to sell its non-core brands when the M&A market became better. The company will continue to focus its resources on The Company Store brand, he said during yesterday's conference call, and "it continues to perform well."

He was also "enthused" with the prospect of its relationship with Amazon.com, though it hasn't seen any significant results yet.