Owner of Payless, Stride Rite stores being sold

The owner of the shoe store chains Payless and Stride Rite is being acquired for about $1.32 billion by a group that includes the owner of Hush Puppies.

Collective Brands Inc., which has been looking for a buyer, has agreed to an offer from a group including Hush Puppies owner Wolverine Worldwide Inc. and two private investment firms.

The buyer, which also includes Blum Capital Partners and Golden Gate Capital, will pay $21.75 for each Collective Brands share. That is a 5 percent premium to Collective Brands’ closing price of $20.77 on Monday.

Topeka, Kansas-based Collective Brands’ stock gained 41 cents, or 2 percent, to $21.18 in morning trading Tuesday.

Collective has about 60.8 million outstanding shares, according to Fact Set.

The companies valued the deal at about $2 billion including debt.

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