Waterstones bookshop chain sold to Elliott Advisors

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From the BBC:

Book chain Waterstones has been bought by activist investment firm Elliott Advisors for an undisclosed amount.

James Daunt, the chain’s chief executive since 2011, will remain in the post under the new ownership, along with his key management team.

Mr Daunt said the sale should mean the chain could grow a lot faster.

Waterstones has 283 bookshops and 3,000 staff in the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands and Belgium, and sales of more than £400m a year.

Lynwood Investments, which has been the controlling shareholder in Waterstones since 2011, will keep a minority stake.

. . . .

Mr Daunt told the BBC that Elliott was buying Waterstones as an investment which would grow, not in order to force through change.

He said he expected Elliott to “see us grow and ultimately sell us for a nice profit – that’s what private equity people do”.

Link to the rest at BBC

6 thoughts on “Waterstones bookshop chain sold to Elliott Advisors”

  1. “He said he expected Elliott to “see us grow and ultimately sell us for a nice profit – that’s what private equity people do”.”

    Some ‘private equity people’ buy, sell off the good bits to their other companies cheaply, and then let what’s left die on the vine. Only time will tell where this really goes.

  2. As the founder of the bible of the private equity industry (AltAssets), I humbly suggest James Daunt and Waterstones might be about to have their expectations “adjusted” concerning what the PE sector is most concerned with. Specifically, the “sweat” in the industry term, “sweat equity”.

  3. Interesting to read these comments, which pretty much match my own thoughts. All the comments I’m seeing from writer and publisher friends on this side of the pond seem to me to be overly optimistic. Am I growing cynical in my old age, I wonder?

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