Hotter owner Unbound Group has revealed it is in talks with WoolOvers Group about a potential takeover.
As a result, Unbound’s share price has more than doubled on the news.
WoolOvers may offer 10.5p per share, according to Unbound’s stockmarket announcement this morning. That’s162.5% above the Unbound closing share price of yesterday.
The offer has yet to be confirmed and could vary. If it does make such an offer, however, Unbound’s board said it would be “minded to recommend an offer by WoolOvers Group”.
Click here to sign up for our newsletter
WoolOvers now has until 5pm on April 25 2023 to make an offer, under stockmarket rules on takeovers.
The news comes months after Unbound Group launched a new multi-brand platform aimed at women aged over 55. The platform, built around the Hotter brand, also sold products from a range of brands targeting the same demographic.
At the time Unbound said that by selling more brands it would be able to increase engagement from its target audience. WoolOvers, founded in 1989, sells natural knitwear using fibres such as cashmere, merino and lambswool and its target audience includes a similar demographic to Hotter Group.
However, its shares fell in January when it reported that sales had slowed in “challenging” economic conditions in a trading update.
While full-year revenues were expected to be between 3% and 4% above the previous year, at between £53mn and £54mn in the year to February 5 2023, it expected to make an adjusted pre-tax loss of between £4.25mn and £4.75mn.
Today, Unbound Group’s share price rose by 123.25% on the news, at the time of writing, reaching 8.93p.
Hotter is ranked Top150 in RXUK Top500 research.
