Nordstrom Receives Go-Private Proposal From Nordstrom Family and Mexico’s Liverpool

Nordstrom has received a proposal from its CEO Erik Nordstrom, President and Chief Brand Officer Pete Nordstrom, other members of the Nordstrom family and Mexican omnichannel company El Puerto de Liverpoolto acquire all the outstanding shares of the company and take the company private.

The proposal offers $23 per share in cash, the special committee of the board of directors of Nordstrom said in a Wednesday (Sept. 4) press release.

“The special committee, composed of independent and disinterested directors, was formed in response to interest expressed by Erik and Pete Nordstrom in exploring a possible transaction,” the release said. “The special committee and the other independent directors will carefully review the proposal in consultation with independent financial and legal advisors to determine the course of action that is in the best interests of Nordstrom and all shareholders.”

The release added that there is no assurance that Nordstrom will pursue this transaction, or that a proposed transaction will be approved, and that the company does not intend to disclose further developments on this matter until appropriate or necessary.

The special committee was formed in April after Erik Nordstrom and Pete Nordstrom told the Nordstrom board that they are interested in taking the company private.

The board said at the time that the special committee will evaluate any proposals from those executives and from other parties.

Taking Nordstrom private would allow the potential buyers to rebuild the retail chain without having to deal with quarterly reports and the public markets, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

The Nordstrom family tried once before to take the company private at $50 per share, but their offer was rejected by the company in 2018, according to the report.

Their partner in the current offer, Liverpool, is an $8.2 billion publicly traded company, owns a high-end department store chain in Mexico, and expanded outside that country by acquiring a stake in Latin American retail company Unicomer in 2011 and acquiring a nearly 10% stake in Nordstrom in 2022, the report said.

When announcing its acquisition of a stake in Nordstrom, Liverpool said: “This operation represents an attractive opportunity to diversify assets geographically.”