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Saks up for sale
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June 25, 1998: 7:39 a.m. ET
Execs say board initiated offer; retailer could fetch up to $2.5 billion
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Venerable retailer Saks Fifth Avenue said Thursday it is up for sale.
The upscale retailer is being shopped around by its parent company, Bahrain-based investment bank Investcorp International. The holding company is known for investing in luxury retailers and selling them for a profit.
Retailers often sell for 1.5 times revenue, meaning Saks could fetch between $2 billion and 2.5 billion.
Although Investcorp has a history of investing in well-regarded retailers, such as Tiffany and Gucci, only to sell them later for a profit, the decision to sell Saks was apparently initiated by the retailer's board.
Saks and Investcorp declined comment to the paper.
Saks' earnings rose 95 percent in its last fiscal year, to $55.8 million on sales of $2.2 billion. Sales at stores open at least one year rose 3.8 percent last year.
Investcorp bought Saks in 1990 for $1.6 billion and sold 20 percent of the company to the public in 1995 for $425 million, or $25 a share.
Saks Holdings Inc., the holding company for the retailer, operates 97 stores. The landmark Fifth Avenue store accounts for roughly 20 percent of the entire company's sales.
Shares of Saks Holdings (SKS) fell 7/16 in Wednesday trading to close at 24-13/16. 
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