Shareholders of Collective Brands, owner of the Payless and Stride Ride shoe store chains, have approved the sale of the company for more than $1.3 billion.
Collective stockholders voted at a special meeting on Tuesday, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Collective, which had been looking for a buyer since August 2011, announced in May that it agreed to an offer from a group including Hush Puppies' owner Wolverine Worldwide Inc. and private investment firms Blum Capital Partners and Golden Gate Capital.
The transaction will split Payless and the Topeka, KA company's brand development and licensing arm into separate companies.
The group will pay $21.75 for each share of Collective Brands Inc. The companies value the deal at about $2 billion, if Collective's debt is included.
As part of the deal, Wolverine will acquire Collective's Performance + Lifestyle Group, which includes the wholesale and retail operations of the Sperry Top-Sider, Saucony, Stride Rite and Keds brands. Blum Capital and Golden Gate will jointly acquire Payless and Collective Licensing International, a brand development and licensing company.
