Target Corporation announced that it will review strategic alternatives for its Mervyn's and Marshall Field's divisions. Goldman Sachs has been engaged to advise the Corporation in this review.
Mervyn's is a promotional, middle-market department store, based in the San Francisco Bay area with 266 stores in 14 states, primarily in the west and south. In 2003, Mervyn's generated $3.6 billion in revenue and $160 million in pretax segment profit.
Marshall Field's is a traditional department store that emphasizes fashion leadership, quality merchandise and superior guest service. It is headquartered in Minneapolis and operates 62 stores in 8 states in the upper Midwest. In 2003, Marshall Field's produced revenues of $2.6 billion and pretax segment profit of $107 million.
Bob Ulrich, chairman and chief executive officer of Target Corporation, said, “We have dedicated significant effort to increasing sales and profits at Mervyn's and Marshall Field's over many years. As responsible stewards of the corporation's assets, we believe that it is appropriate at this time to identify and evaluate possible strategic alternatives and our Board of Directors concurs with this direction. While we remain committed to the creation of shareholder value over time as our primary performance objective, our evaluation of potential alternatives will also weigh the effect on our guests, our team members and the communities we serve.”
The alternatives to be evaluated include, but are not limited to, the possible sale of one or both of these divisions as ongoing businesses to existing retailers or other qualified buyers. Because the company is still in the early stages of this process, it is not yet certain that any transactions will occur as a result of this review. Additionally, if this review results in one or more transactions, it is possible that a meaningful accounting gain or loss would result.
