Women’s apparel retailer Christopher & Banks Corp. is working with ICR for investor relations counsel as it fends off a hostile takeover bid from Boston hedge fund Aria Partners.
Aria, which is working with Muirfield Partners for PR counsel and media relations, made an unsolicited, $1.75-per-share offer ($64M) this month to take over the Minnesota-based operator of 672 stores. Aria owns a 4% stake.
C&B’s board on July 6 rejected the bid and affirmed its commitment in a new management team and strategic plan, saying Aria’s proposal “does not reflect the full, long-term value stockholders are expected to receive from continued focus on the current strategy.” C&B also adopted a so-called poison pill shareholder rights plan that takes effect at ownership of 15% of outstanding shares.
Aria partner Edward Latessa blasted C&B’s board in a statement today: “ It is mindboggling that as the value of the company continues to deteriorate and the losses continue to mount, that this board would continue to collect directors’ fees that amount to more than 100% of the company’s earnings.”
Latessa, in an acerbic letter to C&B board chairman, Paul Snyder, released to the press, wrote: “Since you joined the board, the stock is down 89%. If you were a contestant on ‘Project Runway,’ you would have been laughed off, but somehow you continue to wield influence in the boardroom of a publicly traded fashion company.”
C&B said last month that net sales fell 15% for the 13-week period ended April 28 while its operating loss widened to $13.4 million compared with 2011.
CEO Joel Waller previously laid out a four-point plan to boost sales which is underway.
ICR managing director Jean Fontana, a senior member of the firm’s retail unit, advises C&B.
Mickey Mandelbaum, the former Kekst and Company hand who was a VP of corporate communications at Banco Santander, reps Aria through his Muirfield Partners firm.