/ 30 April 2007

All conditions fulfilled for Edcon deal

All conditions precedent for the R25-billion buyout of fashion retailer Edgars Consolidated Stores (Edcon) by United States-based private equity group Bain Capital have been fulfilled, the group announced on Monday. Edcon's listing on the JSE will be terminated on Friday May 25.

All conditions precedent for the R25-billion buyout of fashion retailer Edgars Consolidated Stores (Edcon) by United States-based private equity group Bain Capital have been fulfilled, the group announced on Monday.

Edcon’s listing on the JSE will be terminated on Friday May 25.

In terms of the deal, Main Street 522 (Bidco), a special-purpose vehicle acquired by Bain Capital in order to facilitate the acquisition of Edcon, will acquire the entire issued share capital of Edcon by way of two schemes of arrangement.

The first scheme entails the ordinary shareholders of Edcon selling their shares in Edcon to Bidco. The second scheme entails preference shareholders of Edcon selling their preference shares to Bidco.

On completion of the transaction the retail business of Edcon will ultimately be owned by Bidco. — I-Net Bridge