By Katherine Hamilton
Vera Bradley shares advanced 10% on Monday after the company's largest shareholder urged it to consider a strategic review, including a possible sale.
Shares of the women's accessories company rose to $3.98 in morning trading. The stock has fallen 26% since Dec. 10, just before it reported a swing to a fiscal third-quarter loss and cut its 2025 financial outlook.
Fund 1 Investments, which owns about 10% of Vera Bradley common stock, said in a letter to the company's board that it should begin considering strategic alternatives. The long/short equity firm said it believes Vera Bradley will have better success fixing itself if it goes private or is bought by a larger company.
Fund 1 said it believes that if Vera Bradley were out of the public spotlight, it would be able to better focus on brand revival without quarterly earnings, save costs by leaving the public markets and have more time to focus on the business rather than shareholder meetings.
"We believe that a strategic or financial buyer would be able to complete a transaction at an attractive premium for shareholders," Fund 1 said.
Fund 1 said it believes Vera Bradley is suffering from long-term value destruction, poor operational performance, a failed brand turnaround and negative sentiment for fashion brands across the board.
Write to Katherine Hamilton at katherine.hamilton@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 30, 2024 11:20 ET (16:20 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
免責聲明：投資有風險，本文並非投資建議，以上內容不應被視為任何金融產品的購買或出售要約、建議或邀請，作者或其他用戶的任何相關討論、評論或帖子也不應被視為此類內容。本文僅供一般參考，不考慮您的個人投資目標、財務狀況或需求。TTM對信息的準確性和完整性不承擔任何責任或保證，投資者應自行研究並在投資前尋求專業建議。