Blacks Leisure has rejected an offer of £26 million ($38.4 million) from main competitor, Sports Direct. Blacks Leisure proclaimed the offer as wholly inadequate and indicated plans to sell company stock to supplement the companys turnaround plans.
In February, Blacks was forced to postpone its annual meeting indefinitely when Sports Direct acquired a 28.5% stake in the company. The move was made to halt Blacks from selling £20 million ($29.5 million) in stock the company needed to rebuild. At the time, the 62 pence (92 cents) per share offer represented a 3.33% premium.
Blacks Leisure owns the Blacks, Millets and Freespirit sporting goods retail chains. Last year, however, in an effort to avoid the British equivalent of bankruptcy, the company was forced to close down 89 money-losing stores, including its chain of ONeil surf shops.
