Bombay May Sell
By Staff -- Gifts & Decorative Accessories, 5/29/2007 12:06:00 PM
Fort Worth, TX — Home accents retail chain The Bombay Company, which may be delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, received offers to buy the company for more than its Thursday closing share price of 62 cents. The offers are non-binding and subject to due diligence; they were received through William Blair & Company, which was engaged by Bombay’s board of directors to “investigate strategic alternatives.” Bombay stock rose to close at 99 cents on Friday, but fell in today’s trading to 85 cents per share at press time.
Bombay also borrowed an additional $10 million in a secure loan from a fund managed by GB Merchant Partners LLC, to “fund working capital requirements and other corporate needs,” the company said in a statement. It is coterminous with the company's existing $125 million secured revolving credit facility from GE Commercial Finance, Corporate Lending, and was arranged by GE Capital Markets Inc.
Bombay’s revenue for the first quarter dropped 11.9 percent to $104.6 million, compared to $118.7 million in the prior year period. Same store sales decreased 10.2 percent. Gross margin for the quarter decreased to 16.5 percent of revenue, compared to 20.2 percent last year.
The few bright notes include an uptick in direct-to-consumer business, which grew to $8.5 million compared to $6.6 million last year thanks to increasing Internet sales, and a reduction of selling, general and administrative costs.
