It’s official. Coach, Inc. is snapping up shares of handbag brand Kate Spade.
The company launched a formal tender offer for all outstanding shares of Kate Spade, par value $1.00 per share, at $18.50 per share in cash, according to a press release. The offer is slated to expire on June 23.
Coach initially announced its intention to acquire the company on May 8. And Coach has made no secret of its plans to build a portfolio of brands, a move which started with its acquisition of Stuart Weitzman in 2015.
Coach has restructured its management team to ready itself to manage multiple labels with the creation of the president and CEO role for the Coach brand as well as the global business development and strategic alliances position for Coach, Inc.
“We are confident that this combination will strengthen our overall platform and provide an additional vehicle for driving long-term, sustainable growth,” Victor Luis, chief executive officer of Coach, Inc. said of the deal, adding that Coach is positioned to boost the Kate Spade business by following many of the distribution and product steps it took to overhaul its namesake brand.
But that’s where the synergies will end. In an interview with CNBC earlier this month, Luis said from a consumer standpoint, the two brands will not be linked.
He’s quoted as saying Kate Spade has “a unique brand attitude that’s youthful, with a much higher penetration of millennials, fashionable, fun, feminine with a bit of whimsy.”