Restoration Hardware Rejects Final Sears Bid

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 3/10/2008 12:00:00 AM

Corte Madera, Calif. —

Struggling home specialty chain Restoration Hardware said it will proceed with its original plan for a merger/acquisition by an investment group led by Catterton Partners, even after Sears Holdings claimed its revised bid was richer than Catterton's.

Restoration Hardware said it had determined that the Sears bid "was not reasonably likely to result in a superior proposal under the terms of the [Catterton] agreement and plan of merger because, among other considerations, the proposal was subject to significant uncertainties compared to the agreement and plan of merger."

Sears waited until the last day of the RH "go-shop" period, Feb. 28, to make its most recent offer, which pegged the buyout at $4.55 per share plus other considerations. Catterton's latest bid was $4.50.

In the most recent fiscal year results available, Restoration Hardware showed fiscal 2006 net income of $3.2 million on revenues of $712.8 million. The company operates 111 stores and does considerable direct-to-consumer sales through catalogs and online.