N Brown completes £191m takeover by founding family
The £191m takeover of N Brown Group, the digital retailer behind brands such as Simply Be, Jacamo, and JD Williams, has officially been completed.
N Brown Group has completed its £19m acquisition by Joshua Alliance, the retailer’s non-executive director and fourth-largest shareholder.
The deal sees the Alliance family, which already holds a controlling stake, take the Jacamo and Simply Be owner private.
Under the cash acquisition, which was approved in October, the remaining shares of the business were acquired by Falcon 24 Bidco, a company controlled by Joshua Alliance.
The acquisition was finalised after the Financial Conduct Authority cleared the deal in December, meeting the necessary regulatory conditions for its completion.
Joshua Alliance, who joined the N Brown board in 2020, now becomes the sole owner.
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Bidco had previously argued that due to the retailer’s shareholder structure and low trading liquidity, it was not benefiting from its public listing, while incurring significant costs associated with being publicly traded.
Under the terms of the acquisition, the Jacamo and Simply Be owner’s shareholders — including Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group with a 20.3% stake — will receive 40p per share in cash.
Alternatively, eligible shareholders can choose to receive one unlisted ordinary share in Bidco for each N Brown share they own.
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