ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 22, 1996 TAG: 9605220036
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: NEW YORK
SOURCE: Associated Press
There is much that glitters on the counters and racks of Saks Fifth Avenue, but to Wall Street, nothing shines as brightly as the retailer itself.
Investors are expected to scarf up shares in Saks' parent, Saks Holdings Inc., when it goes public today. . Saks' initial stock offering couldn't be timed more perfectly - it comes as upscale stores are enjoying success on the trading floor as well as the selling floor.
``That's where the focus is,'' said analyst Eileen Gormley of the Pershing division of the investment firm Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette. ``The upscale retailers such as Tiffany are reporting encouraging results.'' Saks owner Investcorp SA, a Bahrain-based investment bank, also owns Gucci and Tiffany.
Saks' stock was priced at $25 a share late Tuesday; it trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol SKS and will be abbreviated SaksHold in stock tables distributed by The Associated Press and used in The Roanoke Times.
Investcorp is selling 16million shares in Saks, or a little more than a quarter of the retailer's equity. Saks said in its offering prospectus it would use the proceeds to pay down debt, which it listed as nearly $976million.
The sale by Investcorp marks the first time the public will directly hold shares in Saks. After its founding in 1867, the company was privately held and operated as a division of Gimbel Bros. Inc., which was acquired by the British conglomerate BAT Industries PLC in 1973. In 1990 BAT, which was divesting all its retail holdings, sold Saks to Investcorp for $1.6billion.
The retailer operates 45 Saks Fifth Avenue stores, 19 Off 5th outlet stores and the Folio catalog; they generated a combined $1.69billion in sales in fiscal 1995, up from $1.42 billion in 1994.
LENGTH: Short : 41 linesby CNB