Alligator Snapping at Gant’s Heels

Maus Frères S.A. (Geneva, Switzerland), which owns the Lacoste apparel brand, has launched a hostile $810.8 million bid for Gant Sweden AB (Stockholm).

Maus snapped up 12.5 percent of Gant on the Stockholm Stock Exchange earlier this week before unveiling its bid. Gant said it would “make an assessment and revert with a recommendation to the shareholders of Gant before the acceptance period terminates.”

Maus’ offer, good through Jan. 11, 2008, would need to be embraced by at least 50 percent of Gant shareholders.

Jean-Bernard Rondeau, general secretary for Maus, said the firm has been interested in a partnership with Gant for “some time.” “It’s a fantastic company with great opportunities for growth,” he said.

For the first nine months, Gant’s net profit increased 18 percent on a sales increase of 14 percent.

In September, Gant reopened an expanded flagship on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue. It was the first Gant store in America to carry all of the firm’s offerings, including the women’s collections, the preppy GNH line, the sophisticated Elliot Gant brand and Rugger contemporary label. Men’s remains the company’s bread and butter, accounting for about 75 percent of sales.

“The bid isn’t hostile,” said Rondeau. “It’s unsolicited. We don’t want to change the team at Gant. We have great respect for what they have achieved.” Rondeau said Maus wanted to accelerate Gant’s expansion. “The United States and Japan would be very high on the agenda,” he said.

Maus is Switzerland’s largest privately held retail group, running department stores and specialized retail chains, as well as French sportswear brands Aigle and Lacoste, which operates some 1000 stores around the world.