Bonmarché to be delisted as Philip Day secures 93 percent of shares

Sir Philip Day’s Dubai-based investment firm Spectre Holdings has announced it will be delisting Bonmarché from the London Stock Exchange after it secured 93 percent of shares in the womenswear retailer.

Day’s firm said that by 12 July, the deadline for its takeover offer, it either owned or had received valid acceptances under the offer in respect of a total of 46.5 million Bonmarché shares, representing approximately 93 percent of the existing issued ordinary share capital of Bonmarché.

Spectre confirmed it would start the process of cancelling the listing of Bonmarché shares on the London Stock Exchange. It added that such a cancellation will take effect no earlier than 12 August 2019.

In April, Day increased his stake to 52.4 percent in the retailer, and by doing so triggered a mandatory takeover bid. At 11.445p per share, the offer valued the chain at 5.7 million pounds.

Bonmarché’s board of directors initially urged shareholders to reject Day’s offer which they said “materially undervalues Bonmarché and its prospects”. However in June, the company took a U-turn and advised its shareholders to accept his offer following poor trading in the first quarter of the financial year.

Bonmarché currently employs approximately 1,900 full-time equivalent people according to its website and has over 300 stores and concessions across the UK.

Photo credit: Bonmarché, Facebook