Leslie’s Poolmart Agrees to Deal Taking It Private
Frustrated by a lagging stock price, Leslie’s Poolmart said Thursday that it has agreed to be taken private by a group led by Chairman Michael Fourticq and Chief Executive Brian McDermott.
The group--which includes Leonard Green & Partners L.P., a Los Angeles-based merchant banking firm--will purchase the company for $14.50 per share in cash, or about $100 million, McDermott said.
“We haven’t performed as a public stock the way we would have hoped,” McDermott said. “We felt [the company] was worth more to us than the market seemed to think it was worth to it.”
McDermott and Fourticq’s partnership, Hancock Park Associates, is still completing financing for the deal. A portion will come from Occidental Petroleum Corp., one of whose officers is also a member of Leslie’s board of directors.
Chatsworth-based Leslie’s is the nation’s largest chain of pool-supply stores. It went public in 1991, but despite rapid growth, its stock was subject to sharp upticks and plunges, soaring to above $19 per share in June then dipping to as low as $10.50.
On Thursday, Leslie’s shares rose 69 cents to $13.69 on Nasdaq.
Tammi Kuntz, an analyst with Morgan Keegan & Co., said the purchase price is low but the buyout is probably the right move.
