South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings Ltd offered on Tuesday to purchase the 12 % of Australian clothes retailer Country Road Ltd it doesn’t currently own from billionaire Solomon Lew for A$213 million ($200.20 million).
The offer possibly ends a stand-off more than larger takeover target David Jones Ltd. Woolworths would like to buy David Jones, Australia’s No. 2 retailer, for A$2.2 billion however Lew has accumulated a holding of just below 10 % of David Jones, possibly allowing him to stop the takeover.
The move by Melbourne-based Lew, who has held his minority stake in Country Road for 17 years, was widely seen as a tactic to force Woolworths, which owns the rest, to buy out his stake, currently worth A$172.28 million, at a profit.