Douglas Holding Buyout Offer Pending

Private equity firm Advent International (Boston) placed a $1.9 billion offer to buy Douglas Holding AG (Hagen, Germany), which operates about 1900 retail stores in Europe and the U.S., The New York Times reports. Douglas Holding cosmetics, jewelry, clothing and confections retailers include Douglas, Thalia, Christ, AppelrathCüpper and Hussel.

The deal, if approved by three-quarters of the retailer’s shareholders, would allow Beauty Holding Three AG, an Advent Intl. company, to purchase all shares of the company. Advent said it would focus on growing Douglas Holding’s perfume and jewelry divisions if the acquisition were successful, according to The Times.