Blacks Leisure rejected a £26 million offer from rival British retailer Sports Direct as “wholly inadequate” and said it plans to pursue plans sell stock to raise cash need for its turnaround plans.
Sports Direct acquired a 30% stake in Blacks Direct in late February to stop it from selling �20 million in a stock Blacks Leisure needed to rebuild. Its 62 pence per share offer represented a 3.33% premium at the time.
Blacks Leisure owns the Blacks, Millets and Freespirit sporting goods retail chains, but closed down 89 money losing stores � including its chain of ONeil surf shops � late last year in a bid to avoid the British equivalent of bankruptcy.
