$1B offer to buy Franchise Group

 

Franchise Group, the owner of Vitamin Shoppe and other businesses, will be acquired for $1.05B.  The company announced the $30 per share acquisition offer on Monday but did not identify the buyer. The unknown buyer may have come from inside the company. The Wall Street Journal reported in January that Franchise Group's management was considering paying $30 to $34 per share to take the company private. Franchise Group was set to acquire Kohl's for $9B last year, but Kohl's rejected the deal when Franchise group reduced its offer to $53 per share. Franchise Group noted in its annual report that its debt, which stood at $1.4B, is a significant risk to the company as interest rates rise.